The Dance of Deception
by thecon12
Summary: What would you do if you found out that your whole relationship with your best friend was an intricate dance of deception that neither of you knew about until it was too late? Callica
1. Chapter 1

The latest piece I wrote and posted on my LJ.

**The Dance of Deception - Chapter One – Façade**

Façade, concealment, cover-up, disguise, it doesn't really matter what you chose to call it, because in the end these words still mean the same thing; something isn't quite as it seems.

Façades are a strange thing really; they give a certain appearance to the outside world, while the inside is a totally different story. They can be used to hide away a numerous amount of things, always acting like a Halloween costume, where nobody can see who's hidden behind the mask. No signs on show to give away the emotions that hideaway behind the surface.

How many façades do people go through to protect themselves during a lifetime? To protect their family and friends? To protect their values? Morals? Beliefs? And sometimes people are protecting more than that, they're keeping themselves well guarded at all times.

Whatever the reason may be for these façades; words, thoughts, and feelings are hidden from the outside world, giving the entire image that everything is in place and all right. Though in reality, on the inside, nothing really is, now is it?

Erica scratched her pen across the paper, signing her name at the bottom of her chart before throwing it back onto the table in front of her. She let her tired eyes travel from her pile of paperwork to the clock hanging on the left-hand side wall; taking in note of the early hour and instantly reaching for her cup of coffee. She'd been stuck in an emergency surgery for the better part of last night, her patient's rupturing artery ruining any chance of her finishing her shift on time and any chance of her going home between to sleep between her shifts.

Erica scrunched her nose up at the cold coffee that trickled down her throat, and tiredly rubbed at her eyes, willing herself to wake up and focus, wanting to be ready for another busy day at the hospital. She grabbed a couple of her grapes and popped them into her mouth, enjoying their flavour on her tongue before she reached for her pen again, thinking herself lucky that despite her hectic night, she'd managed to find an unoccupied on-call room for a few hours well needed shut-eye.

Callie pushed open the door to the Attending's longue and smiled to herself at the sight of her best friend working away at her charts; her quiet entrance going completely unnoticed by the cardio surgeon. She settled into the chair opposite and immediately reached to help herself to one of Erica's grapes, her action causing blue eyes to rise up from their position to meet brown. Callie stretched her arm and took another grape, popping it into her mouth and giving the blonde a playful smile.

Erica let out an amused sigh and shook her head in response, which only made Callie's cheeky smile widen. The blonde rolled her eyes and returned straight back to her paperwork. Over the two years that she'd been working at Seattle Grace, Callie Torres had been her best friend for nearly a year and a half of that time.

The Callie Torres she'd first met back then had been a slightly awkward Orthopaedic resident, who had been suffering her fair share of heart-ache and bad luck. It had surprised Erica that the friendly, bubbly Ortho resident that she'd heard so much about, always wore a sad expression on her beautiful face, and seemed to be equally as alone as she was; the other familiar faces of the surgical wing not seemingly treating her with any comfort or respect.

When their unusual friendship started Erica found herself watching Callie grow back into the happy-go-lucky person that she'd first expected; a smile was always plastered on her face, her infectious laugh always coming out and encouraging the blonde to join in, and a confident air masking the vulnerability left behind by her broken marriage.

Without even trying, Callie Torres had broken through all of Erica Hahn's well placed barriers and the two had settled into an easy friendship. At the beginning Erica had scolded herself for becoming one of those girls who talked for hours on the phone, and spent all of their free time with their best friend. Yoga and coffee became a morning ritual, followed by their lunch time meeting in the hospital cafeteria, Callie always opting for the slightly less healthy choice, and then an evening filled with drink, dancing and nonstop conversation.

During the time that they'd been friends, they'd managed to squeeze in a lot of things that Erica would have considered unusual, such as meeting the other's parents, going away for weekend breaks together, and celebrating Callie becoming Seattle Grace's Orthopaedic Attending by watching male strippers. Although she resisted at first, Callie had always managed to twist her arm, and in the end the blonde always managed to have fun.

They'd spent countless weekends lounging around each other's apartments, watching movies, and drinking, an event which always led to one of them staying the night. They'd even spent Christmas together, although eating a proper Christmas dinner went right out of the window when Erica forgot to switch the oven on. Callie had spent hours teasing Erica afterwards while they downed bottle after bottle of alcohol; they might not have eaten that Christmas, but it had been very merry.

Looking back at how their friendship had grown, Erica knew that now, she wouldn't change a single thing about it, even if the Orthopaedic Attending was stealing her breakfast. She'd managed to finish adding the final touch to another chart when she felt something hit her shoulder.

Erica lifted her head in time to see Callie throw another grape at her; the fruit hitting her directly in the chest. Callie tried to hide her laughter at the blonde's expression by pushing a smirk onto her face, "You do know that you're supposed to eat them, not throw them Torres, right?"

Callie rolled her eyes, knowing that Erica was teasing her on purpose, "Of course Dr Hahn, everyone knows that grapes are a delicious fruit," she grabbed another one and popped it into her mouth, "They're very tasty," she swiped another grape and rolled it between her thumb and index finger, "But did you know, that they're also very handy when it comes to," she released the grape from her grip and smirked when it hit Erica's shoulder again, "Getting people's attention."

Erica let out an amused sigh, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, "I guess I missed that piece of information. But since you have my attention now, did you want something?"

Callie flashed the blonde her megawatt smile, "There's a new club opening on Friday night, I've got tickets, come with me? I'll even pay for the drinks."

Erica brushed a piece of hair away from her eyes, "I don't know Cal; this week has been manic. I've been on all night, and I'm dead tired. I think I could use an early night on Friday, I'm getting old; I need to relax and get lots of sleep."

Callie chuckled, "You're not that old Erica, and you can sleep when you're dead. Please come Friday night, I've barely seen my best friend this week and I miss you."

"More like you're still upset that I managed to out drink you last weekend and you're determined to beat me," Erica smirked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Fine, I'm a little upset that you managed to down more shots than me. I'm not even sure how that happened; I'm the Tequila queen-"

"If you don't count Meredith Grey," Erica stated, interrupting Callie's ramble.

Callie shook her head, "If I don't count Grey... Look, please come? We'll dance, we'll drink, we'll laugh; it'll be fun. Come on Hahn, you know you want to spend time with me. I'll even cook you breakfast in bed the next morning to help with your hangover."

Erica sighed, and shook her head. There was no way she was going to win this one, if Callie wanted something she always knew exactly how to keep going until she won the blonde over, "Fine, I'll go with you. But I want waffles for breakfast."

Callie smiled in satisfaction, "My speciality. I'd better leave you to it now, otherwise you'll be even more cranky with me," she pushed her chair back and headed to the door; her hand grasping the handle and pulling it open slightly before turning back to face the blonde.

Erica caught the hesitant look on Callie's face and smiled gently, "Cal?"

"I just wanted to tell you that erm..." she let out a sigh and smiled back at the blonde, "I like your hair, the curls look great, they suit you," she looked flustered for a minute before she regained her composure, " You look beautiful Erica."

Erica dropped her eyes away from Callie's dark pools, as a heated blush covered her cheeks, "Thank you," she smiled back shyly.

Callie laughed, "You are so cute when you blush Dr Hahn."

"Leave now or I'll be forced to kick your ass," Erica couldn't help smiling to herself as Callie threw her a wink over her shoulder as she opened the door to the lounge fully and let herself out, the door clicking shut behind her.

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"We need to get Tom into surgery to fix his leg as soon as possible. Can you go and tell his parents that I'm booking an OR and we'll be doing the surgery in about forty minutes, I think they'll be glad that he doesn't have to wait until tomorrow," Callie scribbled her signature onto her chart and handed it to Karev, "I'll see you in there, I'll even let you lead."

Alex gave her a cocky smile in response, "No problem Torres," he took the chart from her hand and started off down the corridor.

Callie turned back to the OR board and picked up the marker pen, adding in the details of her patient and her surgery; clipping the lid back onto the pen when she'd finished and placing it back. She reached into her lab coat pocket and drew out her scrub cap, along with an assortment of hair pins, clips and bands. She let out a groan of frustration as one of the pins slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.

"I'll get it," Erica bent to retrieve the pin and offered Callie a smile, "Got a surgery?"

Callie turned and pointed at the board where she'd neatly added her name only moments before, and waited until Erica had read over the information written there, "Shouldn't be too bad, I've got Karev with me and although he's arrogant he's surprisingly good with Ortho."

Erica took the clips, pins and bands from Callie's hand and moved behind her, carefully scooping her hair away from her face and tying it up with the hair band. Next she took hold of the pins and slid them into place, making sure that none of Callie's beautiful dark tresses were escaping.

"Turn around," the blonde placed her hands on Callie's shoulders and urged her to turn and face her.

"Since when do you do hair?" Callie asked in amusement.

Erica returned her smile, "Shut up, and give me that," she took the black scrub cap covered with little bones from Callie's grip and placed it onto her head. She made sure it was sitting straight before sliding her arms around Callie's neck and letting her fingers try to work the ties into a knot.

Callie found herself unable to look away from Erica's gaze while the blonde's deft fingers skimmed across the nape of her neck as she fiddled to with the ties to her scrub cap. A strange wave of unsteadiness washed over her and she found herself gripping Erica's hips to steady her balance.

"Finally, all done," the blonde was just as surprised at having Callie's fingers digging into her hips as she was at the words leaving her mouth in a whisper. As soon as Erica had opened her mouth to speak, Callie had become acutely aware of how the blonde's warm breath puffed out and skittered against her own lips.

The heat radiating between them and the smell of Erica's perfume felt intoxicating in the small distance between them, it was making Callie's head feel fuzzy; her mind filling with thoughts that maybe if she just leaned in a bit closer she could-

Erica removed her arms from around Callie's neck and took a step back; averting the dark-haired woman's intense eyes for second before forcing a smile onto her lips, "Want to grab lunch after your surgery?"

Callie nodded her head and desperately swallowed the dry lump that had formed in her throat, "Of course, that'd be great."

Erica stared back and opened her mouth to reply; the sound of her pager interrupting the moment that had settled between them. She snatched it from her scrubs and held it to her eyes so she could read the message, "Its Steven's. I'm needed for a consult apparently. I'll meet you in the cafeteria after your surgery, I'll grab you a tray."

Callie gave a small smile and watched as Erica hurried off down the hallway. As soon as she was out of sight she let out a shaky breath, "Thanks for helping with my scrub cap," she shook her head, willing the tension to leave her body and headed towards the OR.

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As Erica pushed open the door leading into the cafeteria she took in a deep breath to steel her nerves. She wasn't normally one to suffer with nervousness settling into her stomach, but since her encounter with Callie earlier that morning she'd felt completely thrown.

She scanned the groups of people sitting at the tables and felt herself relax a little when she noted that Callie wasn't there yet. Erica headed over to the line and grabbed two trays, loading one for herself and one for Callie; making sure to get Callie's usual post-surgery meal of a burger with fries.

She settled the trays onto their normal table and took a long sip of her coke, loving the way the icy liquid quelled the dryness of her mouth. Her mind flashed back to the way Callie had been looking at her this morning and she quickly pushed it aside.

There were times in their friendship when these unnerving moments cropped up, they were always fleeting and both women pushed them from memory, neither speaking about the unusual flow of intensity that passed between them.

"Hey," Callie settled into the seat next to Erica and offered her a smile, "Thanks for grabbing me lunch, I'm starving."

Erica smiled back, relief flooding her every nerve at the return of their usual easiness, "No problem. How'd the surgery go?"

Callie took a bite of her burger and closed her eyes, letting out an appreciative sigh. She swallowed her mouthful and took a sip of her drink, giving the blonde a small shrug, "It went okay, we fixed the young boy, Tom's, leg and his parent's looked so happy when we wheeled him back to his room," she took a fry; biting into it, "This food, is to die for. I can't believe you have salad again Erica, branch out, have a bite," she offered the burger to Erica and frowned when the blonde shook her head, "You're no fun."

"That might be true, but at least my arteries won't be clogged up," Callie rolled her eyes and took another bite of her burger, "How did Karev get on?"

"Karev did a good job, but as usual he remains as a cocky asshole; if I didn't have a strange fondness for him I'd want to punch him."

Erica let out a chuckle, "Well at least you weren't stuck with Steven's all morning. The stupid girl was doing her whole "I'm so attached to all my patient's thing" again. It drives me insane."

Callie heard a laugh from the table behind them and turned to see Izzie laughing with George, "You're right, I'd definitely rather be stuck with Karev, hell I'd even take Grey over her."

Erica followed her gaze and studied Steven's with the man that used to be Callie's husband. She waited until Callie turned back towards her before replying, "I'd rather have Yang over her."

Callie's eyes widened, "Wow."

Erica nodded her head and gave her a smirk, "I know, I'm learning to accept her, no matter how annoying she may be," she stabbed her fork into her salad and waved it about as she searched for the right word, "Its growth."

"I'm impressed. Makes you hanging out at the apartment I share _with _Yang, much less awkward."

Erica opened her mouth to reply and stopped when Sloan and Sheppard slid into the seats opposite her and Callie, "Hello Ladies, mind if we join you?"

There was something about Mark Sloan that drove the blonde doctor to distraction, she'd never been able to put her finger on the reason why, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with the way he treated women. He constantly went from woman to woman, sleeping with them and then moving on to the next, and he had this disgusting habit of hitting on them in his unique sleazy way; unfortunately her and Callie weren't part of the exception.

"Of course not," Callie offered Derek and Mark a smile and glanced out of the corner of her eye at Erica; easily reading the look of annoyance that had settled on her face.

"I love the curly hair Erica, but I'm thinking it would look even better ruffled up," he closed his eyes and licked his lips as he pretended to think about it, "Yeah, I was right. You'd look super hot with sex hair. Want to meet me in an on-call room after lunch?"

Erica scoffed, her blue eyes flashing in anger before her control took over, leaving only disgust behind in her tone, "No thanks Sloan, I'm treating enough women that have slept with you already, they're all suffering from Chlamydia and I don't need to become one of them."

"Ouch Hahn, message received," he gave her a wink and turned his attention to Callie, "What about you Torres? You never say no to a good old fu-"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Erica tightened her grip around her fork and felt the urge to lean across the table and stab Sloan in the chest with it.

"Erica, it's fine," Callie placed her hand over Erica's, running her thumb over her knuckles and getting the blonde to release her killer grasp on the utensil. She shifted her attention to Mark, "Don't be an ass."

"You two can be so uptight sometimes," Mark shook his head and lifted a hand to scratch at his beard, "You know what usually loosens women up? Sex. I'm up for a threesome if you two don't like being separated."

"Mark," Derek chipped in with his warning tone, noticing the angry looks coming from both the women at the table, "Why don't you save it for those nurses you like."

"Fine, but you two are missing out," he smirked at them before taking a bite of his food.

Derek watched Callie leaning in to talk to Erica, the smirk that appeared on the blonde's face a few seconds later, before they both started laughing was enough to make him smile, "You know, you two are kind of like Meredith and Cristina," they stopped laughing at once, Callie turning to him with an eyebrow raised and Erica looking completely appalled, "Except you two have good communication and deal with feelings instead of drinking Tequila."

"I'm nothing like Yang!" Erica said scandalised by the mere thought.

"I wouldn't be so sure about the Tequila thing either Derek, trust me, these two can drink just as well as Meredith and Yang," Mark muffled through his mouthful of food. Once he swallowed he turned his attention to Erica, "And sure you're like Yang, Hahn. You're the slightly private one, and Torres here, is your version of Grey, who likes to cuddle up in your bed and mope about her feelings."

"Meredith doesn't mope," Derek added.

"And we don't cuddle, we're nothing like Meredith and Cristina, they're dysfunction," Callie turned to Derek, "No offense."

He let out a laugh as he stood, "None taken, but I'm telling you, you two are Mer and Cristina version 2.0," he flashed them his charm filled smile; "Have a good day ladies."

A few seconds after Derek left a blonde nurse passed by their table, flashing Sloan a smile, "That's my cue ladies, I'll see you around."

Callie watched him follow the nurse like a dog after a bitch in heat and shook her head as she found Erica's eyes, "He's a moron, but thank you for defending me."

Erica gave her a smile, "He really is a moron, and he had no right to speak to you like that."

"Thank you," Callie lifted her hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, "I have to go check on a patient. You want to meet me in the lobby at the end of your shift? We can go and grab a drink at Joe's and through darts at a picture of Mark's head."

Erica let out a laugh, "Sounds like a plan Cal."

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Callie let out a sigh of irritation and shifted her bag higher onto her shoulder at the same time that the elevator doors pinged opened; a smiled instantly formed on her face as Erica stepped through the doors and joined her.

"Sorry I'm a little late, that last surgery ran longer than I expected it to," Erica offered Callie an apologetic smile as they fell into step with one another.

"Doesn't matter, I've only just got down here myself," Callie pulled her jacket tighter around her body as they stepped out into the crisp night air, "I really could do with a drink though," she threw a smirk in the blonde's direction as they crossed the road and headed towards Joe's.

"Is there any time that you couldn't do with a drink?" Callie's eyes twinkled in amusement as she let out a low laugh and held the door open for Erica to pass through.

"Hey Dr Hahn, Dr Torres," Joe greeted them in his normal friendly manner as they settled onto the stools in front of the bar, "What can I get for you? The usual?"

Callie nodded, "Yes please, Tequila all around."

"Actually Joe, I'll have a glass of red wine please," Erica shot Callie a look, "I told you Torres, no more Tequila, that stuff is like poison to me, a couple of shots and I'm done."

Callie accepted her drink from Joe and downed her shot with ease, "You need to learn to hold your alcohol better Hahn," she titled her glass at Joe indicating for another.

Erica thanked Joe and passed him enough money to cover their drinks for the night, "I out drank you last weekend! I can hold my drink, but unlike you I don't need to get wasted every night of the week," she gave Callie a playful nudge and headed over to the dart board.

The younger woman quickly followed, "I can't believe that you just implied that I'm a slight alcoholic," she snatched the darts from Erica's hand and took her shots.

Erica studied where Callie's darts had landed and shook her head, "With or without alcohol in you Cal, you're the worst darts player in the world."

The dark-haired woman feigned offence and pouted, "Well, why don't you show me exactly how it's done Dr Hahn," she retrieved the darts from the board and offered them to Erica.

The cardio doctor smirked in acceptance to the challenge and easily flew her darts into the bulls-eye. When she turned back to Callie, the woman simply shot her an amused look and rolled her eyes, "Do you have to be so annoyingly good at _everything_?"

Erica laughed in response, "I can't help it," she gave Callie a playful took and tilted her head back to the bar, "Another drink?"

"You should know the answer to that one," Callie threaded her arm through the older woman's and let herself be led back to the bar.

A couple of hours, and a few drinks later, Erica found herself supporting Callie's weight against her own as she led the younger woman from the bar. She pulled one of Callie's arms more firmly around her neck and braced her other arm around her waist as she tried to steady her tipsy friend, "You're an idiot Torres."

Callie giggled, "I know, but I was having fun."

Erica struggled to adjust her hold on the other woman and managed to signal a cab for them. She slid Callie into it before climbing in behind her and giving the cab driver her address. As the driver pulled away from Joe's and started on the twenty minute journey to the cardio doctor's house, Erica felt Callie snuggle in closer to her side, her head falling to rest comfortably on the blonde's shoulder.

She let her blue eyes fall over Callie's face and took in the sight before her. The younger woman's honey skin was slightly flushed due to the alcohol, her beautiful brown eyes where safely hidden away as she snoozed and her gorgeous full lips were parted as she breathed against Erica's neck.

The blonde quickly tore her eyes away and let her head fall back against the seat. It was times like these when alcohol flooded through her system and Callie was completely unaware that her mind started playing tricks on her, she swore her senses became heightened because all she could think about was the smell of Callie's shampoo and perfume, the way the younger doctor's breath tickled against her skin and left a trail of goose bumps in their wake, and most proponent was the way Callie's heated body was pressed firmly against her own.

Erica scrunched her hands into fists and fought the urge to pull Callie closer, this is just what happened when she'd had a few to drink, it was nothing unusual, she just had to keep her calm and ignore the voice in her head that told her to break pass the barrier of friendship that they firmly had in place. The blonde sensed the driver slowing down and shifted a little so that Callie would wake, all she needed to do was get some sleep and then those thoughts running through her head would once again return to their dark depths.

"Cal, we're here, wake up sweetie," She ran her hand along Callie's arm and gave her a smile as brown eyes fluttered open and came into focus. She grabbed her bag and rummaged around for her purse, passing the driver their fare and pulling Callie out of the cab and up to her house.

Once inside she settled Callie on the couch and fetched the dark-haired woman a large glass of water, "You should drink that before we head to bed, you'll have an even worse hangover if you don't."

Callie took the glass and threw Erica a half smile, "Thanks, I really should try and knock off the week day drinking, I'm going to have a killer headache for work tomorrow."

Erica shrugged and watched as the younger woman finished the water, "You feeling a little sobered up now?" Callie nodded and stood from the couch, only swaying a little before regaining her composure, "Let's go to bed, I'm exhausted."

"Sounds like a plan," Callie held her hand out and waited for Erica to take it before she followed the older woman upstairs.

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Erica pulled the scrub cap from her head as she headed to the nurses' station, grabbing a chart from the pile and adding the information she needed. It was only the sound of Callie's laugh that drew her attention away from her work; she let her eyes dance over the situation going on before her.

A tall dark haired guy with his arm in a cast was talking animatedly away to Callie with a smile plastered over his face. Erica felt a twinge of something in her chest as the dark-haired woman returned his smile and lifted a hand to his arm in a friendly gesture. She watched until she saw the man turn to leave and quickly focused back on her chart, not wanting to be caught being nosey.

"Hey you," Callie leaned on the desk in front of her, "How's your day going so far?"

Erica lifted her eyes to meet brown and smiled, "Not too bad, one successful surgery down. How's the hangover?"

Callie let out a laugh and smirked, "Luckily for me I woke up in a doctor's house this morning, she had plenty of little bottles of pills to help my headache, so I'm not doing too badly."

"That's good then," Erica felt the word's forming in her head and willed them to go away; she would not be drawn into the gossip mill standards of Seattle Grace, she would not ask Callie about the man she was just talking to because frankly it wasn't any of her business, "Who was that patient you were talking to?" Damn her vocal cords for betraying her! She saw the look of surprise flash through Callie's eyes before she averted her gaze.

Callie hooked her thumb over her shoulder, "What Dan?" Erica nodded her head, "He's this patient I've had for years. He's a wrestler and sometimes they get a little carried away, he's had more broken bones than anyone I've ever know."

Erica nodded, "I see."

Callie wasn't sure why but the blonde seemed unsatisfied with her answer and she felt the need to explain more, "Not to mention he's a real flirt," she rolled her eyes as Erica looked up at her, "He asks me out for drinks every time I fix him up and I always tell him 'maybe next time,' I thought he'd get bored and leave it alone but he still always asks," she studied the blonde for a few seconds longer before continuing, "He's married now but it's become a bit of a joke between us now, so..."

Erica watched the younger woman shrug and swiftly felt relief pass through her. Ignoring it she gave Callie a smirk, "So you're even irresistible to the patients now? You need to watch what kind of vibes you give off Torres."

Callie felt at ease as the blonde's trade mark smirk graced her face, "I'll make sure I watch what 'vibes' I send out Hahn; don't worry."

The smirk fell from Erica's lips, the words 'don't worry' echoing around inside her head, what the hell was that supposed to mean? Why would she be worried if Callie dated someone? She wanted her best friend to be happy after the whole mess with George and not to mention it really wasn't anything to do with her, Callie was a grown woman; she could make her own choices.

Callie felt the tension shift in between them like a thick fog, Erica's usually confident and relaxed frame scrunched up with incredible discomfort. She risked a step towards the blonde, placing her hand on her upper arm, "Erica..."

Erica was sure that Callie's touch was burning through the layers of her clothes and etching into her skin, she wanted to do something, anything to dispel the heated air between them. She heard Callie's soft voice in her ears and felt her eyes drawn from their spot on the ground, there was something unreadable in the dark eyes she knew so well, a hint of expectancy mixed with an apology lingered on their surface and she immediately wanted to ease the younger's woman's distress.

She lifted her hand to brush a piece of hair away from Callie's eyes, "Cal, I-"

"Dr Hahn," the two women immediately sprang apart as Cristina appeared besides them, "Thank god I found you, Jeff Carlson has gone into arrest again and you weren't answering your page."

Erica snatched her pager from her lab coat pocket and growled in frustration, she hadn't even heard it go off during her awkward conversation with Callie. She gave the dark-haired woman a tight lipped smile and hurried off after Yang.

"Don't forget dancing later, the new club!"

Erica looked over her shoulder as she reached the end of the corridor, and gave Callie a smile that let her know she'd meet her later before rushing after Yang.

Callie ran her hands over her face as she leant back against the nurses' station, "Fuck..."

Whatever that moment had been had been... awkward... in the least, and she couldn't stop from feeling the lingering anxiety that had settled into her body. She just hoped that by tonight everything would be back to normal.

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Erica lifted her hand to Callie's door and paused to compose herself before rattling her knuckles against the metal. She hadn't seen the dark-haired woman since the moment they'd shared at the nurses' station and she was a little worried things might be awkward between them. No matter what happened when Callie opened the door, the blonde was determined to put their well practiced friendship back into place.

"Hey, you made it," Callie pushed the door open a little more and continued adding in her earring, "Come in for a second."

Erica smiled and closed the door behind herself, her eyes subconsciously moving over Callie's curvaceous frame. She was wearing a sleek purple dress that hugged her body in all the right places, and left enough of her beautiful caramel skin on display for anyone to desire her.

Callie grabbed her purse and shrugged into her jacket, turning back to face the blonde, "I see the lucky black skirt has joined us again tonight, looking to pull Dr Hahn?"

Erica laughed at Callie's playful remark. Her black skirt had become a joke between them right at the start of their friendship, whenever they went out dancing the blonde would wear it and it never failed to get her attention from a handful of handsome men.

"Who knows, could be my lucky night," she flashed Callie a smile, "But I am going out with you Torres, looking all gorgeous in your purple dress and casting your spell binding 'vibes' all over the men, I'm not sure I'll stand a chance."

Callie laughed, "I'll promise I'll leave one for you," she headed to the door and waited for Erica to pass through it before turning to lock it, "Maybe two, depends how generous I'm feeling."

When the cab pulled up outside the club Erica trailed her gaze over the long line of people waiting to get in, "How the hell did you get tickets to this place? It looks like everyone wants in there."

Callie jumped out of the cab and waited until Erica joined her on the sidewalk before looping her arm through the blonde's and leading her towards the club entrance, "A friend of my Dad's is an owner of a chain of clubs, when he told my dad he was opening one here in Seattle my Dad mentioned I lived here and he gave him the tickets, told him to pass them on to me so I could enjoy a night away from the hospital."

Callie passed the tickets to the doorman and flashed him a sexy smile as he held open the doors for her and Erica to enter. The club was filled with a mixture of well dressed men and woman already dancing away on the large dance floor, and a few people scattered in front of the bar drinking and laughing with their friends.

"Come on, I want a drink," Erica let the younger woman slide her hand into hers and lead her over to the bar, immediately catching the young guy's attention and ordering a row of shots for them.

Erica raised an eyebrow as Callie passed her one, "I thought I told you about my abilities with Tequila."

"We're here to have fun Erica, so shut up and drink it," she tossed back her shot and immediately grabbed another one. She smirked in victory when the blonde followed her lead and look another one for herself. She let her eyes travel over the groups of people in the club and took notice of a group of guys staring at her and Erica. She turned back to the cardio doctor, "I think I just found us some men for the night," she tilted her head in their direction and gave them a sexy smile.

Erica smiled back at the dark haired man who was holding her gaze and turned to grab another shot, when she turned back he was coming towards her. He held her eyes for a second and gave her a charming smile as he extended his hand, "Hey, I'm Jack, want to dance?"

The blonde nodded and took the hand he offered to her, throwing a wink over her shoulder at Callie before settling into an easy rhythm on the dance floor with him. Callie watched them for a few minutes, watching as Jack slowly pulled Erica closer to his body. She turned back to the bar and downed the last two shots, before heading out to the dance floor herself.

They'd been at the club for a couple of hours, dancing and drinking with the friendly crowds of people, but no matter how many men offered to buy Callie a drink or dance with her, she found herself drawn to watching Erica with Jack, the guy had seriously moved into full out flirting mode and she felt a surge of anger run through her at the sight of his hands freely roaming over Erica's body.

The dark-haired woman watched as Jack leaned in to whisper into Erica's ear and then disappear through the crowds towards the rest rooms. She swiftly excused herself from the guy she was dancing with and moved towards the blonde, "Hey you, having a good night?"

Erica smiled back, "Yeah without a doubt, I've definitely got a buzz from the all the alcohol I've consumed."

Callie chuckled, "Light weight," the blonde playfully slapped at her arm, "And what about Jack? Will he be taking you home tonight?"

Erica felt the intensity in Callie's gaze and looked away shyly, "I don't know yet, maybe."

The younger woman reached for Erica's hand and dragged her towards the bar again. When they finished their round of drinks Callie grasped Erica's hand, drawing blue eyes to her own, "How come you never want to dance with me, but with these guys you're out on the dance floor as soon as we get in here, whipping out your fully fledged dance moves," she tilted her head and regarded the older woman, "You been holding back on me all these times Hahn?"

Erica chuckled and smirked, "I just didn't want to outshine you, I know how dancing's your thing Torres."

Callie grabbed Erica's hand and tugged her in the direction of the dance floor, "I think you owe me a few dances then, don't you?"

Erica let herself be led, "Of course," she let herself follow the rhythm Callie set to the music and laughed when the music changed to something totally 80's. Callie immediately whipped out her cheesy dance moves and forced the blonde to join in with her.

As the night continued on, the two women continued making trips to the bar for more drinks before immediately returning to the dance floor. Erica quickly forgot about Jack and enjoyed spending the night with Callie, they were laughing and dancing the night away; she'd almost forgotten just how much fun night's like this could be.

Callie caught sight of the blonde out of the corner of her eye as she twirled in time to the music, her head was feeling fuzzy and her body held the happy tingle that came with having alcohol coursing through her veins. Erica's cheeks and the exposed skin of her chest had turned red in a heated flush and the younger woman guessed that her friend had moved way past her drinking limit.

Erica caught the younger woman looking at her and reached for Callie's hand; tugging her closer. She lazily trailed her hands up the exposed caramel skin of her arms and slid them loosely around her neck. In response Callie ran her hands over Erica's sides and grasped her hips; moving in time to the music in perfect sync.

Callie twisted Erica in her arms and pulled the blonde's back against her chest, she heard a moan escape the blonde's lips and instantly ran her hands over her stomach, leaning her mouth down to brush against the soft skin of her neck.

Erica felt her eyes flutter shut as Callie's lips linger against her neck, her warm breath was all over her skin and it was driving her crazy. She forced her body to keep in time to the music, her hips swaying and moving against the younger woman's centre.

The dark-haired woman breathed in deeply, filling her lungs with the scent of Erica's overwhelming perfume, it made her feel even dizzier than she already was, if that was at all possible. The blonde's skin was so soft against her lips; her mind wondered to the thought that maybe she'd taste as good as she felt. She brushed her lips over the blonde's skin again, opening her mouth a little and letting her tongue snake out to trail across her heated flesh.

The cardio doctor whimpered as Callie kissed at her neck again, the warm breath she felt on her skin suddenly turned moist and she groaned at the realisation that Callie was running her tongue over her neck.

Erica moved her hand to clasp the one Callie had splayed out on her stomach, and willed herself to open her eyes; she needed to turn around and make sure that this was really happening and that it wasn't just her wasted brain playing tricks on her.

Callie felt Erica release herself from her grip, the blonde turned halfway towards her and stopped when the lights in the club turned up, everyone's attention going to the man standing on the stage, "Sorry to interrupt everyone, but I just wanted to say a big thank you for making our opening night such a success. We hope you'll all become faithful regulars. But for now I'll let you all get back to having fun," he turned to the DJ and nodded his head, the lights dimmed again and the loud music drummed back into the air,

Erica turned slowly towards Callie, their eyes locking in a desperate battle of desire and confusion at what had just happened between them. Erica was the one who tore her gaze away first, her eyes dropping to the floor; her head spinning.

Callie breathed deeply, and watched the blonde for a second before heading back to the bar. She grabbed another shot and enjoyed the way it burned down the column of her throat. When she turned her gaze back to the dance floor she caught a glimpse of Erica dancing back with Jack. She shook her head, whatever was about to happen just then hadn't, actually she wasn't even sure what had just happened; one minute they'd been dancing away and having a laugh and the next they'd been wrapped closely together. Callie downed another shot and headed back to the dance floor; she grabbed the nearest guy and threw herself easily into the rhythm; if the blonde could pretend it hadn't so could she.

---------------------------

They'd stayed at the club until the early hours of the morning, avoiding each other for the most part and then regrouping towards the end of their night, the tension between them had seemingly vanished and they were back to being giggly, drunken, friends.

Erica fiddled with the key in the lock to her door and laughed when she managed to finally get it unlocked; she turned to Callie and grabbed her hand as she led her through the door. They stumbled to the kitchen laughing about absolutely anything; Erica's mind was to hazy to even understand what was happening.

She found a bottle of wine and two glasses left on her kitchen counter and quickly emptied the remainder of the bottle into the glasses, "Take one..."

Her words came out slower than normally and definitely slurred but Callie stumbled forward and downed her half a glass of wine. Erica followed suit and downed her own glass, wobbling slightly on her feet as she placed the glass back onto the counter.

She lifted her heavy lidded blue eyes to meet Callie's intense gaze, the younger woman was licking her bottom lip and shifting her eyes around the blonde's face. Erica wasn't sure if it was the way the alcohol made her legs stumble forward or if it was her own actual decision to move towards the dark-haired woman, but within three seconds she'd closed the distance between them, and was cupping Callie's cheek in her hand.

Callie closed her eyes at the touch of Erica's hand on her cheek, the pad of a thumb brushed over her cheekbone and she knew she was gone. She forced her eyes open and pulled the blonde's lips to her own; her hand grasping the back of Erica's neck as she glided their lips together, in a series of slow, gentle kisses.

The younger woman pulled back and searched the blue eyes before her, their shade had darkened and there was something in them that she'd never seen before. Erica inched her head forward a little and moaned against soft lips when Callie closed the remaining distance between them.

Callie slid her hand up into Erica's hair, weaving her fingers through golden curls as she crushed their lips together again. Erica's fingers where digging into her hips and it made the younger woman bite down on her lip; when the blonde whimpered in surprise Callie took the opportunity to soothe the hurt with her tongue.

Erica groaned at the sensation of Callie's tongue sliding against her own, it was caressing every inch of her mouth and it felt _really_ fucking good. The blonde raked her nails up the dark-haired woman's arms and stopped to rest them against her shoulders. Callie moved to put a bit of space between their bodies and growled when Erica pushed at her jacket. She immediately dropped her hands from Erica's hair, letting the blonde shove away the material from her skin. Once she felt it fall past her wrists she nipped at the blonde's lip again, letting her own hands shove at Erica's jacket in return, and gladly letting it follow hers to the floor; their feverous kiss never breaking.

Sometimes it doesn't matter how well you wear your façade, because in the end if you're not careful, if you forget to keep it firmly in place for even a second, it easily falls away... leaving nothing but the real you on display.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Dance of Deception – Chapter Two – Deceiving**

Deceive, deceivingly, deceiving... these three variations of the same word all represent the same thing:

If you deceive someone it basically means that you are purposely tricking them into believing something that's not true.

If you do something deceivingly, you're doing something dishonestly; you're choosing to replace the truth.

If you're being deceiving to someone it means you're misleading them from facts, from the true reality of your world.

Being a deceitful person is quite complicated if you really think about it, you have to replace a version of yourself with a liar, you have to have a quick mind to cover the paths and pasts of your life, you have to remember who you told what to, and you have to make sure you keep it up, there's no going back if you decide to deceive somebody, there's no second chances to change the stories you've created; you have to live the lies you've spun.

There is a loophole to being a deceiving person though; what if the person you were deceiving was yourself? What if you didn't realise that you had been misleading yourself? Is it possible for somebody's subconscious to deceive a person's truths into an eloquent lie? Is it easier for the mind to lie to them instead of letting them deal with their reality?

Callie knew her body was on overload, her mind was racing, her heart was pounding, and her body ached with the need for more, all because of the blonde pressed tightly against her. She knew she'd lost track of time, there was no way in knowing how long she'd been trailing her hands over Erica's body as the blonde continued to devour her mouth.

Erica shifted her hands to the younger woman's shoulders and pushed forcefully at her, in response Callie instantly tightened her grip on the cardio doctor's hips and let herself be pushed backwards. The desperate need for air became apparent by the burning in her lungs and she tore her lips away from the blonde, panting heavily as their eyes met and held.

She watched as the older woman kicked off her shoes and sauntered sexily back towards her; she hurried to kick off her own and rushed forward to capture Erica's beautiful, pouty, kissed bruised lips again; loving the way that berry lip gloss mixed with the taste of alcohol and something so purely Erica Hahn, filled her taste buds.

Erica growled as Callie bit at her bottom lip again, and for the first time since the kissing started, nipped a pathway across her jaw, stopping to nibble at her earlobe before trailing molten kisses down her neck. Clumsy hands pulled her top from her skirt and skittered across the exposed skin of her lower back; nails biting into her flesh as the younger woman returned to her lips.

She let her fingers get lost in Callie's silken hair as she held her firmly against her body; she'd never been as filled with want and desire for another person as she felt right then in that moment. Erica tore her mouth away from the dark-haired woman's and grabbed the hem of her own shirt, ripping it over her head and throwing it to the floor.

Callie watched the material fall to the floor and lifted her heavy gaze back up and over Erica's body, her gorgeous milky skin contrasting perfectly against the darkness of her skirt and bra. She lifted a hand out, trailing a finger over the heated flush that covered the blonde woman's chest; she'd never thought that skin looked more beautiful.

When her gaze finally met back with Erica's she let out a gasp of surprise at the look of pure unadulterated lust she saw on their surface. Before she could move back to claim the older woman's lips, her own were under attack from a skilled tongue; her spine tingled in delight as she sank into the passion of the kiss.

Erica tangled one hand into Callie's hair and titled her head to the side; dipping her head, she revelled in the expanse of exposed skin she came across. She moved her assault of open-mouthed kisses and nips across honey skin, lathing the younger woman's rapid pulse point with her tongue, before nipping at the flesh hard enough to make her name fall from Callie's lips in pleasure.

She used her free hand to scratch down Callie's back, fiddling with the zipper of her dress for a few seconds before grasping it between her fingers and lowering it down as far as it would go. She moved her mouth back to the younger woman's delicious full lips, sucking against them before kissing her deeply.

Callie slipped from Erica's arms and took a few steps towards the stairs. Reaching her hands up to her shoulders she pushed the dress down her body and stepped out of its remains on the floor; smirking when blue eyes scanned every inch of her flesh with a look of hunger.

The blonde licked her lips and twisted to reach the zipper at the side of her skirt, dragging it down she wiggled her hips a little to get it to fall from her hips to the ground ,and swiftly moved towards the sexy younger woman in front of her.

Callie instantly wrapped her arms around the blonde's frame as their lips fused together again; they both moaned at the first contact of their naked flesh connecting, enjoying the way their body heat radiated between them.

The dark-haired woman danced her fingers down to the clasp of the blonde's bra and pouted as she moved out of reach, shaking her head as a playful smirk danced on her lips. She held her hand out and waited for Callie to grasp it before tugging her up the stairs.

They made it half way up the staircase before Callie pushed Erica against the wall and attacked the smooth skin of her neck with her teeth; nibbling away at the blonde's flesh and revelling in the noises she drew from the older woman's mouth in response.

She worked her hands behind Erica's back, luckily flipping open her bra clasp with ease. Callie pulled her mouth away from the blonde's neck and watched in amazement as she pulled the offending item away from Erica's chest. Her rosy nipples tightened instantly as the cool air whipped against her heated skin. Callie found Erica's eyes and groaned as she leant forward to briefly kiss her again.

She dipped her head and took one of the awaiting taut peaks into her mouth, suckling the bud with her lips and bathing it with strokes of her tongue. Erica moaned out into the silence, grabbing a fistful of dark hair in order to hold Callie closer to her chest.

The younger woman grazed the nipple gently with her teeth before moving her attention over to the other; easing her fingers to tease the one she left behind. Erica threw her head back, bumping it against the wall as Callie nipped slightly harder against her sensitive nipples; her already unsteady legs were beginning to wobble and she knew she needed to move them off of the stairs.

She tugged at Callie's hair, drawing the woman's head away from her chest, and latched onto her hand, pulling her up the final few stairs and into her room. Her head felt heavy, her eyes fuzzy, and yet she knew her body was aching to become even more intoxicated than it already was; only this time she'd be high on Callie Torres.

Callie didn't have to wait to initiate the next session of making out, Erica was pulling down her own panties and moving towards her before she'd even had time to adjust to the change of their location. As Erica's tongue sneaked its way back into her mouth, she reached behind her back to rid herself of her own bra.

As her dark breasts sprung from their cloth prison, the blonde pulled away from Callie's lips to drink her in; her caramel skin was glowing in the low light of the room and she looked stunning. She climbed onto the bed and patted the space beside her; Callie wasted no time ripping away her panties and clambering onto the bed, sliding their naked forms together and attacking the blonde's lips once again as they fell back against the sheet.

The younger woman made quick work of teasing every inch of Erica's neck and chest, making sure to spend extra attention at the blonde's puckered nipples before trailing her kisses lower; she couldn't wait any longer, she wanted, no she needed to touch her, now.

Erica bit at her bottom lip as Callie nipped her way down the sensitive skin of her stomach, stopping only to swirl her tongue around her navel before feathering kisses along both of her thighs. Callie placed several open mouthed kisses along the blonde's slit before trailing her tongue through the soaking folds.

The blonde whimpered and Callie groaned as her tongue danced to life with her first taste of Erica Hahn. Without a second thought she eased her tongue to stroke up and down her heated centre several times before lathing the muscle against Erica's throbbing bundle of nerves. The blonde thrashed about, her hips rising slightly as Callie took her clit between her lips, sucking gently as she slid two of her long fingers inside of her; instantly settling into a steady rhythm.

Her free hand slid up the blonde's body to toy with her pointed nipples as her fingers increased their pace, curling as they thrust deeper and deeper. With one last flick of her tongue over the blonde's engrossed clit, Erica's muscles clammed down on her fingers and she moaned Callie's name into the night air with fierce intensity.

Callie slowly removed her fingers and slid back up the blonde's body, finding her hazy eyes before sucking her digits into her mouth, cleaning Erica's juices from her skin. The older woman moaned in response and drew Callie's lips to her own; sucking her tongue into her own mouth and tasting herself of the younger woman's lips.

Erica hugged Callie's body tighter against her own and rolled them so that she was hovering above the Ortho attending. With her body sated, she thought through the fog in her mind to concentrate on the lust filled hunger she felt for the woman trapped beneath her body.

She inched her trail of kisses across Callie's jaw, making sure she pain special attention to the sweet spot below her ear, whenever she nipped at the sensitive skin and then soothed it over with tongue the younger woman would roll her hips up into the blonde's and whimper.

Continuing her journey she licked a pathway down Callie's chest, swirling her tongue around her lush mocha nipples before flicking the tip of her tongue over the hardened nub. The younger woman groaned at the teasing and tangled her hands into Erica's blonde hair, tugging her firmer against her chest. She finally suckled the peak into her mouth, working the other one between her thumb and forefinger.

Erica felt pressure digging in on her shoulders and lifted her head to meet heavy lidded brown eyes, Callie licked her lips and pushed once again on the blonde's shoulders; a smirk falling into place on her lips when the blonde dipped her head and began kissing down her stomach.

Reaching Callie's sex the blonde took a second to breathe her in, her head was clouded already but as she breathed in the younger woman's unique scent she let herself get lost further inside the fog; dipping her head immediately and attacking Callie's anticipating sex with her tongue and teeth. She twirled her tongue around Callie's entrance, plunging it inside and drawing it out again only to replace it with three of her surgeon fingers.

She settled into a rhythm of thrusting her fingers slowly and then picking up speed, depending on whether she was flicking over Callie's clit with the tip of her tongue or sucking it between her lips. It didn't take long before she felt the younger woman's thighs clench around her head, her muscles clamping down on her fingers, and Callie screaming incoherent words as she rode out her orgasm.

When the cardio surgeon was sure the tremors between the dark-haired woman's legs had stopped, she lifted herself back up her body and leant down to tangle her tongue with Callie's, losing herself in their heated kiss.

Within a few seconds of them lazily kissing Erica found herself pinned beneath Callie's body once again; the younger woman's fingers thrumming away inside her once more as her hot breath panted against her ear. She lifted her hands to Callie's back, scratching her nails against her skin as they moved into another round of frenzied fucking.

---------------------------

It was the bright light that scorched through Erica's eyelids and forced the blonde to wake. She fluttered her eyes open slowly, blinking rapidly and letting herself adjust to the morning light, until her vision came into focus.

The first thing that became apparent was the persistent pounding in her head; the second was that she couldn't remember arriving back at her house.

It was the heavy pressure across her chest that caused her to tilt her head down; her blue eyes taking in the arm draped lazily across her torso. The arm across her wasn't just any arm; this arm was a beautiful honey tone that she recognised immediately. A mixture of confusion and fear rippled through the blonde at the realisation that not only was a familiar arm draped over her chest, it was draper over her _naked _chest.

Erica turned her head towards the direction that the arm was coming from and instantly screwed her eyes shut when a vision of Callie sleeping naked, a crisp white sheet barely covering her naked form, came into view.

She felt a lump rise in her throat and gently shifted the younger woman's arm off of her chest, placing it carefully back down onto the bed. Moving as slowly and as quietly as she could manage, she freed herself from Callie's grasp and slipped from the bed.

The blonde quickly moved to the end of the bed, grabbing the royal blue robe that rested on top of the end table, and shrugging into it. She tightened the belt, making sure that it was fully covering her body before lifting her eyes back to the bed. Callie had shifted in her sleep, snuggling further into the warm space Erica had left behind; completely unaware that the blonde had moved.

The pounding in the blonde's head intensified, moving to throb behind her eyes; she lifted her hands to rub her temple and closed her eyes shut, willing herself to be dreaming. When she reopened them to find Callie still in her bed, she clasped her hand over her mouth; there was no way in hell that they'd slept together, the thought alone was completely absurd and it made the blonde want to both laugh and cry.

She headed towards the door, and looked down as her foot caught onto something, her eyes widened as they studied the offending item and she bent down to retrieve them; lifting the lacy black underwear to her eyes and shaking her head... they were definitely not hers.

She released them from her grip, dropping them back down to the floor and crept further towards the door. As soon as she made it onto the landing relief flooded her system, her chest was tight and she felt like she couldn't breathe, there could be no way that this was happening to her.

The blonde desperately needed tablets for her headache, and a large glass of water to clench the dryness that had settled in her throat. She made it halfway down the stairs before catching sight of a discarded bra on one of the steps and a pile of scattered clothes that lead from the base of her stairs and into the kitchen.

Erica forced herself to walk past them, immediately going to the sink and filling a glass of water. She took a couple of large sips before pulling open the draw and retrieving a bottle of tablets for her headache. She took a few deep breathes before turning back around to study the clothing, two sets of shoes were recklessly abandoned, along with her top, her skirt and Callie's purple dress.

She palmed the heels of her hands into her eyes and willed herself to remember, something that clearly shouldn't have happened _had_ indeed happened, and the worse thing was she couldn't remember any of it. Erica groaned in frustration, her mind rationalised that she should try and work it out logically, start at the beginning. She remembered picking Callie up, she remembered going into the club and drinking with her, she remembered dancing with a guy called Jack and she evenly faintly remembered the feeling of Callie's hands over her stomach as her lips brushed against her neck as they continued to move to the music.

The thought of Callie's lips against her skin sent a tingle of sensation down her spine and she swiftly pushed it away, her confusion replacing with anger and frustration. Why had Callie been kissing her at all? Had that led them to come back here and-

Erica shook her head, she couldn't think about the last part. If it was true then they'd just committed an act against their friendship that could never be reversed. Maybe she was wrong, maybe they'd come back here, hot and sweaty from dancing and simply fell asleep naked.

The blonde scoffed at her own stupidity and headed back upstairs and into the bathroom, she needed to check out the damage of their night, and if she looked half as bad as she felt, she was going to look like a walking zombie for work.

She slid into the bathroom, flicking on the light and drinking in her appearance; dark circles had settled under her eyes, and her lips looked bruised and swollen. She caught sight of something red in the mirror and tore her eyes away immediately.

Erica moved back towards her bedroom, stopping in the doorway to look over Callie's sleeping form; the only thought resounding in her head was 'what the hell have we done?' She snuck back into the room and settled into the chair in the corner, she felt sick and numb as she watched over her friend in the deafening silence of her room.

---------------------------

Callie stirred in her sleep and nuzzled her face further into the pillow, the familiar sent of Erica's perfume filling her lungs. After a few seconds it registered that it was Erica's perfume, and not the smell of her own, not even the smell of the fabric softener that she used on her sheets at home. She blinked open her eyes and instantly knew where she was; she shifted under the sheet and noticed her lack of clothing at once. Keeping hold of the sheet she sat up, her eyes instantly locked with Erica's, and she noted a look of anger on their surface.

The blonde was standing at the foot of the bed wrapped up in her blue robe and staring at Callie with a mixture of anger, hurt, and sadness. The look she read on the older woman's face was more than enough to let her know exactly what had happened between them; shifting the sheet higher around her body she desperately searched for her voice, the intensity and pain behind the blonde's gaze making her physically ache.

"Erica..."

The dark-haired woman watched the blonde's incredible blue eyes fill with tears as an angry flush covered her cheeks. Before Callie could find any more words the blonde had stormed off out of the room and into the bathroom, slamming the door fiercely behind her.

Callie clenched her eyes shut as the sound of the door slamming tore through her, and lifted her hands to cup her face; trying to rub the tension away from her head before running her fingers through her hair. As her brown eyes flicked open again she caught sight of herself in the full length mirror next to Erica's wardrobe.

She stared back at herself as she battled through the memories of last night, flashes of what had happened running through her head in short bursts, as a sick feeling settled into the pit of her stomach.

The sound of the shower running drew her momentarily from her thoughts and she murmured a swell of curses into the silence. Fuck the new club, fuck the dancing, and fuck the god damned drinking.

Just _fuck_!

---------------------------

Callie sat impatiently on the end of the bed waiting for the blonde to come out of the bathroom. She'd kicked her ass into gear and jumped out of bed when the flashes of last night became more vivid; borrowing a pair of Erica's jeans and a shirt to wear. She'd hurried downstairs to scoop up her clothes, throwing them into a paper bag, and stuffing Erica's into the washing machine. She wanted to erase as much of the memory of last night as possible before the older woman reappeared; whatever was about to happen was not going to be easy and seeing the evidence of their activity wasn't going to help anyone.

The door to the bathroom clicked unlocked and opened in one swift motion. Erica kept her eyes focused ahead as she hurried towards her dressing table, shrugging off the hand Callie reached out to touch her, and snatching up her hair brush.

Callie closed her eyes for a brief second, trying to ignore the hurt burning in her chest. The blonde moved to pass her again and she reached out to grab her arm again, "Erica please..."

Erica tore her arm away again and headed back into the bathroom; Callie hot on her tail. She tried to shut the door but the younger woman lunged forward and managed to get her foot in the way just in time to stop the door slamming in her face.

Callie pushed the door open and lingered in the doorway without speaking. Erica ran the brush through her hair several times, completely ignoring the dark-haired woman's presence.

"You can't keep ignoring me Erica; we need to talk about-"

"About what? How we spent the night fucking?" The blonde turned to look at her for a split second before turning away again.

Callie felt her jaw clench at the blonde's harsh words, "Erica don't be like this..."

Erica kept her eyes on the ground and shoved past Callie as she headed down the stairs and into the kitchen, bracing herself against the sink as she breathed in and out deeply. Her head was a mess, she only had pieces of the night before flittering through her brain and not knowing why or how it had happened was killing her.

Callie moved down the stairs and came cautiously into the kitchen, things had never been this strained between them and she felt unsure of herself, of what to say. Her skin itched as if it wasn't her own and her thoughts were only enhanced by the way the blonde wouldn't even look at her.

"Erica," She moved a couple of steps closer when the blonde ignored her, "Please talk to me," when she didn't get a response again she moved behind the older woman and gently placed her hand on her shoulder; the pain radiating from the blonde was excruciating and she wished urgently that she knew how to ease it.

Erica let a few silent tears escape her eyes as Callie pleaded with her. When she felt the pressure of the dark-haired woman's touch on her shoulder her legs propelled her away; the touch that had once been so comforting in times of need, was now agonizingly scarring her skin.

"Erica please," Callie didn't mean to raise her voice but the unresponsive reactions she was receiving from the blonde were leaving an icy fear settling into her veins. They'd never not talked, they'd never even argued before, and this, it was worse than any argument between them ever could ever be; the silence sounded so much like defeat, "Would you look at me."

Erica spun around, her eyes angry and hurt, "What do you want me to say Callie?"

"Anything! You can't just ignore me and hope it'll all go away. It's real, it happened, we have to deal with it together."

"Together?!" Erica's voice rose to meet Callie's as their gazes locked and held for the first time, "This is all _your_ fault!"

Callie stepped back in shock, dropping her gaze to the floor before lifting her eyes back to blue, anger now settling into her own brown pools, "_My_ fault?! How the hell is this _my_ fault?"

"_You_ made me go to that club with you, _you_ made us drink endless rounds of shots! I didn't even really want to go!" Erica was almost shaking in rage; she wanted nothing more than to start this day over... no start this whole week over.

Callie watched Erica move a few more steps away from her, the fury making her pale cheeks even redder, "I can't believe you're _blaming_ me for this! _You're_ the one that _insisted _we drink more wine when we got back here; _you're_ the one who moved in closer to me and cupped my cheek! So if this is anyone's fault it's _yours_!"

"Mine?!" the blonde looked scandalised by the accusation, "I may have cupped your cheek but _you_ kissed _me_! You're the one who was all over me at the club Callie! You had your hands all over me and you know it!"

Callie scoffed, "_You_ were all over _me_! You _wanted_ me to kiss you! _You_ were the one who dragged me upstairs to your bed!"

Erica waited, ready with a retort on her tongue, stopping only when the younger woman's words bounced around inside her head. She hadn't remembered who had started it, all she could remember was bits of the kissing, and flashes of their naked forms shuddering together, her mind had yet to fill in the missing pieces for her to see the whole picture. She opened her mouth a couple of times, trying to form a sentence, and when she couldn't she snatched her eyes away from Callie and turned her back to her.

Callie watched the look of confusion flash through blue eyes as she screamed the confession about their night into the air between them, and it was only when Erica faltered in her comeback that the younger woman realised that the blonde couldn't actually remember all that had taken place between them.

Callie dared a step closer and calmed her voice as reason flooded her senses, "Maybe it's no one's fault Erica. It just happened... we can get past this."

Erica swirled on her feet and faced her again, "I want you to leave."

"What?" Callie shook her head, "You don't mean that Erica... last night we just got caught up in the moment, it just happens sometimes..."

Erica scrunched her nose up in response, "Caught up in the moment?!" she opened her mouth to continue and stopped when the shrill sound of her pager rang through the air. Snatching it off the side, she glanced at the message before looking back at the other woman, "Sex doesn't just happen!"

"We were _drunk_!" Callie desperately tried to reason, she hated that this, the awkward morning after had turned into a hurtful screaming match, "Things heated up; we just got carried away..."

Erica pursed her lips together, nodding her head and taking a step towards her, "Well you must have got pretty damn carried away in our frenzied night because you fucking marked me Callie," she pulled at the neck of her shirt and tilted her head to the side, exposing the mark on her neck to Callie's astonished gaze.

"I didn't- Erica I..." she trailed off not knowing what to say. She'd never marked anyone before in her life, she'd never felt enough passion during sex with anyone, where she'd felt compelled to cover the person with every part of her; branding their skin and claiming them hers.

When the blonde was satisfied she let go of her shirt and moved back to the other side of the kitchen, "I want you to leave," she flicked her gaze to Callie's face for a brief second, "I've got to get ready for work."

Callie watched Erica head towards the stairs, "What about us?"

Erica turned to face her again, shaking her head, "What about us Callie..." she let her gaze linger on the younger woman long enough to convey her pain before she turned her back to her and began up the stairs, "Close the door behind you when you leave."

---------------------------

Callie had lingered in the doorway of the gallery for the most part of the surgery, not wanting to be seen in case her presence caused the surgeon below to lose her concentration. Eventually when her pounding head and tired legs became too much she'd snuck in and settled into a chair on the back row, right in the far corner so that the blonde wouldn't see her if she glanced up at the observation deck.

She hadn't seen Erica at work; the older woman had managed to successfully avoid her the entire day so far, since she'd left the dark-haired woman standing alone in her kitchen earlier that morning. Callie lifted her fingers to rub at her temples; her mind had been mixing a series of memories from last night and echoing the blonde's harsh words around her head all day.

Callie didn't know if she wanted to scream and shout or cry her eyes out at what had happened between them, so instead she'd settled for the happy medium of wallowing.

After Erica had vanished up the stairs, Callie had stood rooted to the spot for a good ten minutes, all she could hear was the pounding of her aching heart and the blonde's final words, 'What about us Callie...' in the silence of the house. She wanted nothing more than to follow Erica up the stairs, to grab hold of her arms and shake her. She wanted to scream that she was sorry, that she hadn't planned it, that she didn't know why she'd let it happen, but she didn't, instead she grabbed her bag of clothes and headed out the door, what was the reason in trying to explain something that she just didn't know the answer to.

"You look like hell Torres," Callie's thoughts were interrupted by Mark's cocky voice as he settled into the seat next to her and gazed down at the surgery, "And so does Hahn for that matter. You two out drinking like fish again?"

Normally his teasing tone and smarmy smile failed to rally her, but on top of the day she was already having, Callie just couldn't handle it, "Just shut up Mark, okay? Leave it alone, I'm not in the mood."

She shot him a warning look that let him know that she wasn't joking and then returned her attention to the surgery taking place below. She watched Erica nod to the resident and the nurses and pull at her gown as she headed towards the scrub room. Callie jumped from her seat without saying another word to Mark and hurried down the steps, rounding the corner and pushing open the door to the room.

Erica looked up as the door swung open and then turned away when she saw Callie step into the room; continuing to scrub at her hands.

"We need to talk."

Erica stepped off the peddle, and shook her hands to remove the drops of water from them as the tap turned off, "No, we don't," she turned to grab a towel and dried her arms, glancing at Callie, "I have patients waiting and I'm sure that Orthopaedics does too Dr Torres, so let's get back to our jobs shall we?"

Callie shook her head as the blonde stepped to pass her and moved to block her exit, forcing the blonde to meet her eyes, "Oh, so what? We sleep together and all of a sudden I'm Dr Torres to you now?"

Erica stepped forward and clamped her hand over the dark-haired woman's mouth, stopping her from saying more, "For God's sake Callie!" she removed her hand and shook her head, "What if someone heard you?"

Callie's expression softened and she lifted her fingers to her lips briefly before looking sadly at the blonde, "That's the first time today that you've touched me," she saw Erica avert her gaze and took a step towards her, forcing the blue eyes back to her face, "Actually, it's the first time today that you've even looked at me properly."

Erica pursed her lips together sadly, her eyes never leaving the younger woman's. Just as she opened her mouth to reply the door swung open and Lexie Grey appeared, "Oh sorry, I'm interrupting something... it's just I need you now Dr Torres," she gave Erica an apologetic smile and waited for Callie to follow her.

Callie paused at the doorway and opened her mouth once before closing it again; she gave the blonde a sad half smile and disappeared after the young intern.

---------------------------

Mark grabbed a tray and pushed past the interns and residents in the line to grab his food, stealing an apple from O'Malley's tray as he passed. He caught a glimpse of Derek and decided to go and sit with him. He glanced over at Callie and Erica's usual table and found the dark-haired woman sitting by herself, aimlessly stabbing at her food, while her eyes stayed trained to a table across the room; a table which he noticed seated one Erica Hahn.

He looked back and forth between them, unsure that he was really seeing this weird occurrence. The two women always sat together, even if one of them was having a terrible day and bitching nonstop about it to the other. He'd never seen them not sit together at lunch; it was their thing, their Callie and Erica, best friend, everyday thing.

Mark watched Callie pull her phone from her pocket, her fingers working rapidly across the keypad, before she lifted her eyes back to the blonde. Turning his head so that he wouldn't miss the response, he caught sight of Erica lifting her phone from its place on the table, skimming over the message, before placing it back down, her eyes not looking over at Callie once.

He changed his direction and headed towards the dark-haired woman. She'd been in a bitchy mood all morning and now with the weird Erica lunch fiasco, he was really curious to know what exactly was going on between them.

As he reached the table, Callie scraped her chair back with enough force that the metal legs made a loud screeching noise against the floor, causing everyone to look over at her. She watched Erica for a few seconds longer, and when she noted that the older woman was completely unfazed by the noise, she shoved past Mark and disappeared back into the busy hallways of the hospital.

Within a few seconds of Callie's departure, Mark was sliding into the seat opposite Erica, and grinning at her like an idiot, "And here I was thinking that you two looked like hell because of alcohol," he paused to regard Erica when a look of surprise covered her face for a brief second, before she hid it behind her Dr Hahn death stare, "What the hell is going on between you two? You've been best friends for like two years, you always sit together at lunch; you're practically inseparable."

Erica stared at his with disgust, merely annoyed by his presence in her life, "We're not inseparable Sloan."

"Sure you are," he flashed her another annoyingly smug grin "You're like damn Siamese twins, spending all your free together, it's like your joined together somehow. So did you have a fight or what?"

Erica looked away, staring off at some spot in the distance as her mind flooded with flashes of vivid memories from the night before.

_She growled as Callie bit at her bottom lip again, whimpering in response at the pleasure that soared through her body. Pearly teeth nipped a pathway across her jaw, stopping to nibble at her earlobe before trailing molten kisses down her neck._

_Her head fell back against the wall as Callie dipped her head and took one of her awaiting taut peaks into her mouth, suckling the bud between her lush, full lips, bathing it with strokes of her tongue. _

_Her body was humming in delight as Callie nipped her way down the sensitive skin of her stomach, stopping only to swirl her tongue around her navel before feathering kisses along both of her thighs and looking up at her with devilishly dark eyes._

_Callie's name was escaping her lips as her skilled tongue flicked continuously over her throbbing clit; her long fingers thrusting inside of her._

_Her hot breath was panting against her ear as her deft fingers thrummed away inside her once again; her body shuddering against her own as they came together, screaming their satisfaction._

Erica snapped her eyes back to Mark, and pushed her chair back; standing abruptly from the table, "Mind your own damn business Sloan! And stay the hell out of mine," she squared her shoulders and moved briskly through the cafeteria.

---------------------------

Callie opened the door to her apartment, shrugged out of her jacket, letting it fall to the floor before throwing herself down on the couch. She was so glad that Cristina was working late tonight; all she wanted to do was try and relax, try to get the burning tension to leave her aching body.

She'd gone straight to the Attending's locker room when she'd finished her shift, hanging her lab coat and stethoscope into her locker and plonking herself down on the bench. Erica's locker was shut, her lock carefully added in place meaning that the blonde had already headed home.

They hadn't spoken another word to each other the entire day, Erica had disappeared into the nearest room as soon as she caught sight of Callie coming towards her, and the dark-haired woman was too tired to keep chasing her. She didn't know what to say to change anything between them; she'd tried sending a text to the older woman only to have her attempts completely ignored; after their fight this morning she just didn't have anything else left to give.

Callie picked up the remote and flicked on the TV, she flipped through the channels until a movie caught her eyes, it was one of her many cheesy favourites, and she was immediately propelled into thoughts of one of the random times Erica had been over at the apartment watching movies with her.

_Callie slid back against the arm of the couch, letting her legs drape further into Erica's lap; the blonde was unconsciously rubbing her fingers against the ball of her feet; she loved the way they were so relaxed around each other, especially when she got foot rubs after a long day of standing in surgery._

_She flipped through the channels on TV and smiled at Erica when the beginning credits started, "Erica we have to watch this one, X-Men is one of my favourites; you have to see it."_

_Erica rolled her eyes, "Really Cal, another superhero film? How many of those have you made me sit through so far?"_

"_Oh come on, you're my best friend, you have to watch the movies I like. It's just the way friendships work," she smirked teasingly._

"_Friendships in general? Or is it just ours where a blonde haired woman always does what the dark-haired one says because she doesn't really have a choice?"_

_Callie feigned hurt, "You have choice, I totally let you chose what we watch and what we do," the blonde raised an eyebrow in question, "Well sometimes at least."_

_Erica chuckled, "Sure Cal, we're on totally equal bases."_

_Callie sat up and grabbed the blonde's hand, a serious expression covering her features, "We are on equal bases, right? Because I don't want to be one of those friends who's completely self obsessed."_

_Erica grabbed Callie's hand in her own and smiled gently, "We're totally on equal bases Torres. You pick the movie and I..." she grabbed a cushion from behind her head and whacked the younger woman playfully, "Kick your ass in the pillow fight for making me watch the movie," she jumped up when Callie reached for her and whacked her playfully again, "It's totally 50-50 in our friendship," she bopped the dark-haired woman on the head and took off running._

_Callie jumped off the couch, grabbed a cushion and took off after the blonde, laughing at how the mature Dr Hahn fell away when they were together and left the real Erica behind. She swung her cushion and hit Erica in the back._

_The blonde turned around with a scandalised look on her face, "You did not just hit me," Callie wiggled her eyes and broke out into a fit of giggle, before shaking her ass at the blonde and running off again, "You're dead Torres!"_

Callie looked back at the screen, and realised she'd missed the start of that same movie for a second time. She bit at her bottom lip and grabbed her phone out of her purse, finding the blonde's number and hitting the dial button. She waited through the chorus of rings until the phone went through to voicemail, leaving her best friend one more final attempt to repair their friendship for that night, and if that didn't work, then tomorrow... well she'd just have to try all over again.

---------------------------

Erica pulled the device away from her ear and slid her phone shut, Callie's voicemail lingering in her ears as she stood in the doorway of bedroom, looking at the mess they'd left behind, 'If you see my best friend can you tell her to call me? Because I need to talk to her about what happened last night. I miss her already.'

The blonde stepped further into her room, staring at her bed, her mind conjuring images of another time Callie had been in her bed, only a few days previous.

_Erica shuffled under the covers, moving for the umpteenth time since they'd gotten into the bed twenty minutes ago._

"_Do you want to tell me what's on your mind or are you just going to keep fidgeting?"_

_Erica smiled at the sound of Callie's sleepy voice and turned on her side to face her, forcing her eyes to fight through the darkness and focus on Callie's face, "You don't think we're really like Grey and Yang do you?" _

_Callie let out a laugh as she opened her eyes to find Erica's, "You're not seriously still thinking about what Derek said at lunch are you?" The blonde shuffled again, moving to turn away but Callie reached out to stop her, "No, I don't really think we're very much like them. I mean we actually hang out and have fun, those two just get together to whine about Derek and how you're keeping Cristina out of your surgeries."_

_Erica chuckled and then smirked, "I guess you're right. We really don't whine, or mope about like those two do," she moved to lay flat on her back, "Night Cal."_

_Callie snuggled closer to the blonde, stealing some of her heat, "Night Crist- I mean Erica," Callie let out a laugh when a pillow hit her lightly on the arm._

"_You are so sleeping in the guest room next time you stay over Torres."_

_Callie snuggled back into her position and lazily slung her over Erica's stomach, "Whatever Hahn, just admit it, you like having me in your bed."_

_Erica chuckled at Callie's teasing tone and smiled when she felt the younger woman's smile fill the room, "Go to sleep Torres, before your ego outgrows mine."_

The images before her disappeared and left her alone with her empty bed, the rumpled sheets a painful reminder of what had taken place only two nights after the one she'd just remembered. Erica moved out of the room, unable to be in there any longer, slamming the door behind her in hopes that it would keep the damage contained.

Erica moved into the kitchen, her mind spinning with images of her and Callie. She clamped her eyes shut and let herself slide down against one of the kitchen cabinets, the waterfall of tears she'd been holding in all day, flooding over her eyelids as the pain and hurt consumed her.

In life, there are some things, that you can't deceive no matter how hard you try; eventually the truth always comes out, whether you're ready for it to or not.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Dance of Deception - Chapter Three – Illusion**

Reality as we know it relies on our senses, and it relies on our minds to accept what they tell us without question. Without the human body having the ability to see, to taste, to touch, to hear and to smell, without our mind allowing us to have these senses, the world that we know would not exist for us.

But sometimes our five vital senses can trick our mind, sometimes we hear the tone of somebody's voice, we hear them whisper and we jump to conclusions, are they talking about us? What do they know that we don't?

It's the same for what we see; sometimes the reality that is laid out bare before our very eyes is too hard to accept. Our senses connect with our feelings; they give an emotional link, and sometimes the emotions that you feel in response to a certain thing aren't what you thought they'd be.

The mind sometime allows us to protect ourselves from these unexpected emotions by letting us trick ourselves into believing something different. Sometimes we can cover our truths with an illusion; a fantasy, a day dream, a false impression of our true thoughts and feelings... shielding us from our true reality,

It was the murmured buzzing of her phone against the surface of the bedside table that drew Callie from her restless sleep. She reached out blindly into the darkness, grabbing the device from the side and bringing it to her eyes.

The screen burst into light and blurred the words she'd just received from her vision. Callie pushed herself upright and rubbed at her eyes, wondering who the hell had text her at- she glanced at her digital alarm clock- 3.45am. As her body woke, her eyes adjusted into the darkness and she was able to steady her vision as she read the text.

She jumped up from her bed and hurried towards the apartment door, trying to be as quiet as possible not to wake her roommate. Callie turned the key and opened the door slowly, revealing her blonde haired best friend, her normally bright blue eyes puffy and red.

Erica swallowed the lump in her throat and shifted her gaze away from Callie's as an uneasy beat of silence passed between them.

"I don't know why I'm here," her voice came out in a low hum as she lifted her eyes up to meet Callie's gaze.

The dark-haired woman said nothing in response for a moment as she took in the full extent of the blonde's appearance. Her normally beautiful pale skin looked heated and blotchy, her puffy eyes looked unfocused and her bottom lip was quivering ever so slightly.

"I'm glad you're here," it wasn't nearly enough to let the blonde know just how much she wanted her presence in her life, but it was all she could think to say. The ease that normally passed between them was long gone.

Erica shook her head and snivelled a little, lifting a hand to wipe her face, "God Cal, what the hell have we done?"

The brunette reached a hand out to touch the blonde as tears escaped her blue eyes, "Erica..." she didn't pull away from her touch but she did flinch in response to their contact enough to make Callie move away on her own. She sought blue eyes and shook her head, opening her mouth to try and find the right words to say, "We can forget it," Callie offered, pausing for a second, "We can forget that it ever happened if that's what you want?"

Erica shook her head fiercely, "I _can't_ forget it," she wiped at her eyes as a tightness settled into her chest, "It's _haunting_ me," Callie felt tears burn behind her own eyes, as she watched the older woman struggle with her pain. She wanted to do something, anything that could make it all okay, but she just didn't know how, "Every time I think it's finally out of my head... I see you at work and it all comes rushing back again."

"Erica please," she stepped out into the hallway and reached for the blonde, wanting desperately to pull her into her arms and comfort her.

Erica held her hands up as Callie moved to touch her, "Don't... please don't," the younger woman nodded her head and dropped her arms back down to her side; "I don't think I can handle this... I shouldn't have come. I need to leave."

Callie watched Erica turn on her heel and walk briskly back down the corridor. Without giving it any thought she hurried after her, missing her chance to catch up with the blonde in the elevator as the doors closed between them. She pushed open the door to the stairwell and hurried down them, if she was lucky she could still catch up with her.

The crisp air chilled her skin as she reached the entrance to the building. She caught sight of the blonde heading towards her car and hurried after her, "Erica wait," the older woman turned at the sound of her voice and quickly dug through her purse for her keys.

Callie reached her just as she pulled open the car door, and gripped it with her hand, stopping Erica from opening it any further and climbing inside. She pleaded with her eyes for the blonde to look at her, "What do you want me to do, Erica?" she watched the older woman shuffle her feet uncomfortably, "Please, tell me what can I do to get my best friend back? I'll do anything."

Erica felt more tears escape from her eyes and shook her head, "Just give me some space Callie. I can't deal with this; I don't know how to do this..."

Callie felt tears spill from her own eyes as Erica looked away from her again, "I can't deal with losing you over this," the blonde lifted her eyes to find Callie's dark pools and saw her own pain reflected in them, "Please don't shut me out."

Erica wasn't sure what hurt her more, what they'd done to get themselves into this mess or that she couldn't see a way for them to move past it, everything was different between them now. She shook her head again, holding Callie's eyes, "You just need you to give me some time Callie," she tugged at the door and felt relief enter her system when Callie let go of her grip and moved a step away.

Callie watched Erica climb into her car, and drive off without looking back at her. She lifted her arms to wrap around her body and climbed the stairs back to her apartment. She locked the door again and swiftly moved back inside her room, letting herself cry for the first real time since this whole mess started.

---------------------------

Callie watched from a distance as Erica quizzed George on one of her patients. It had been two days since the blonde had shown up at her apartment in the early hours of the morning, and she was trying to do her best to keep to Erica's request. She fought every natural urge in her body to go over to the blonde when she saw her, she'd battled against the voice inside her head that told her to call her, and even resisted her fingers desire to send a simple text.

Erica was by far, not acting herself. Her normally well guarded feelings were showing all over her face, and her body was slumped down in an unusually unconfident way. Callie had caught the whispers being spoken between the interns and residents, their curiosity wondering exactly what was going on with the normally fierce, controlled Dr Hahn. She wanted to yell at them all, tell them to mind their own damn business, Erica wasn't on display for them to judge; she felt a mixture of extreme protectiveness and guilt knowing that she was the reason behind all of the blonde's discomfort and vulnerability.

She watched George smile proudly as he answered another one of the cardio doctor's questions correctly. Ever since he'd gotten the good news that he'd passed his intern exam, he'd been playing catch-up with the other residents and working his socks off to try and reach the same level that they were all at.

Callie shook her head and smiled to herself when the memory of her telling Erica about her ex-husband finally passing his exam and getting his resident wings. The blonde had smirked confidently and offered to make his life hell; he needed to suffer, especially for what he'd done to her, the blonde had stated. Callie had simply rolled her eyes and told Erica to leave it. After a few seconds she turned back to the blonde and said, maybe a little bit of hell wouldn't hurt; the blonde had chuckled and given her a gorgeous smile.

It seemed weird now, thinking that she used to be married to George. It was as if that period of time had happened during another distant lifetime. And yet as she watched him talk animatedly to Erica, she couldn't help thinking how her ex-husband and best friend had one particular quality that they shared.

_Callie growled in frustration as George extended another pathetic excuse to her, "When are you going to stop acting like this and remember that I'm your wife now George?"_

_He shook his hand, "I know that you're my wife Cal... its just Izzie knows me, she gets my family, she understands me."_

_Callie felt anger rising in her chest. They'd been having the same argument since they'd returned from Vegas as a married couple, actually they'd been having this exact argument since they started dating; it always came down to one thing, one person, "How are we supposed to have a marriage if you keep running off to Izzie every time something happens to you George? We're going to spend our lives together, you can't keep shutting me out; I deserve the chance to get to know my own husband."_

"_And I deserve to be able to talk to my best friend whenever I chose to without having to justify it every time Cal. I can't keep having this argument with you, Izzie's apart of my life, she's not going anywhere; you need to accept it."_

_Callie turned her back to him, grabbing his jacket off the chair and turning to throw it at him, "Well since she's not going anywhere, I suggest you go stay with her, because you're damn well not staying here tonight. Get out George."_

George walked past her, giving her a small nod in way of greeting her as he headed down the hallway to prepare for Erica's surgery. She lifted her head to the blonde again and caught her eye for a second, before the older woman hurried off in the other direction.

Her husband had never been able to open up to her, and along with many other huge issues in their marriage, it was one of the main reasons that their relationship had broken down. When Callie had first met Erica the blonde had been the same, she was a very private and very guarded person and it had taken a lot of time, effort and trust for Callie to get the blonde to pull her barriers down and actually open up to her.

"_I'm glad that you chose to tell me about your childhood Erica," she smiled at the blonde and topped up their wine glasses, "It means a lot that you're finally opening up to me more."_

_Erica clinked her glass against the younger woman's, taking a sip before smiling shyly at her, "Well it works both ways Torres, I got to hear all about your adventures of being a rich kid, living in the hospital basement and your disastrous marriage to O'Malley," she paused for a minute and smirked over her glass, "Actually didn't you tell me that you had stories about a pet ferret that you wanted to share with me?"_

_Callie caught the twinkle in her blue eyes, and shook her head, "Don't make fun of me Hahn, that ferret was a big part of my life, he was my closest friend for years."_

_Erica laughed, "If a disgusting hairy creature was your best friend, then I feel sorry for you Cal."_

"_Don't be, I have another one now... you," the blonde whacked her arm._

"_I am not a hairy creature!"_

_Callie laughed, "I don't know Hahn, you have a lot of blonde hair," Erica shook her head and tried not to laugh, "But seriously, I'm glad we're friends Erica. Other than Addison, I've never really done the whole, best friend thing."_

_Erica nodded her head, knowing exactly what she meant, "I'm glad we're friends too Torres," she flashed her a smile and then shrugged a little, "I don't make friends easily."_

_Callie watched the uncertainty cross over the older woman's face, "You don't either, huh?"_

"_People don't tend to get close to me," she averted her gaze for a split second, "Everyone I've ever felt close to has hurt me, and after awhile I just stopped making friends, it seemed easier. I can't help shutting people out when I get scared now."_

_Callie offered her a small smile, "Promise me you'll never shut me out, if you're scared about something, talk to me about it. We'll get through it together."_

"_And why would I want to promise you that?" she teased back._

"_Because that's what best friends do."_

"_And we're best friends now?"_

_Callie nodded her head and smirked, "You bet we are Hahn, you're stuck with me. I'm not going anywhere, so promise me that you'll always talk to me and be honest, promise that you won't shut me out no matter how much you want to."_

_Erica smiled, "I promise."_

She let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair. George had shut her out and she'd let him go. Erica was shutting her out now, and she just hoped that the blonde would remember her promise and talk to her, because there was no way she was giving up this time.

---------------------------

Erica handed over her money and took the cardboard cup of coffee from the vender. She'd just finished a six hour surgery and she was in desperate need for a caffeine fix. She walked down the stairs and pushed open the doors to the hospital's main entrance, enjoying the way the cool fresh air filled her lungs; snow dancing in the sky before her.

Bailey had assigned her George O'Malley as her resident this week, and she almost cursed out to the heavens when he'd bound up to her all peppy and eager. She had trouble believing that this moron had once been married to Callie, and what irritated her even more was that the idiot had let her go.

She scolded herself, she wasn't really angry with O'Malley and she knew it; she was angry at herself and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't make herself do anything to change it. Seeing glimpses of Callie around the hospital was hard enough, but having George stuck following her around every damn minute, just acted as another painful reminder of the dark-haired woman, and whenever she thought about Callie her mind instantly replayed scenes from their night together over and over as if it was a film playing on an endless loop.

Erica sipped at her coffee and watched as the snow twirled beautifully in the air before fluttering down to the ground and landing with remarkable grace. It hadn't snowed in Seattle for months, in fact snow was quite a rare occurrence for the rainy city; not that she was complaining in the slightest, snow and ice weren't her strongest points.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of the snow, it reminded her instantly of Callie. The younger woman loved the snow. The last time it had been freezing in Seattle, Callie had turned up at her door with an excited smile plastered over her face.

"_Hey, this is an unexpected surprise. What are you doing here?" Erica pulled the door open fully and allowed the younger woman to come inside, it was freezing cold in Seattle; temperatures had dropped way into the minuses and a heavy snow fall had continued for the better part of three days._

"_It's snowing," Callie beamed, hooking her thumb over her shoulder to indicate outside._

_Erica let out an amused sigh and led her into the kitchen, "I can see that Cal."_

_Callie rolled her eyes at the blonde's dry response, "Get your shoes and coat on now, you're coming with me."_

"_Coming where with you?"_

_The younger woman shook her head, "It's a surprise. So stop asking questions and get your shoes," she gave Erica a cheeky smile, "Oh, and don't forgot a hat, a scarf and some gloves, it's freezing out there."_

_Erica had done as she was told, wrapping up in her thickest coat and letting Callie drive her through Seattle's snow. She'd pestered the younger woman about where they were going but when she got no response she'd shut up and just let Callie lead her into the unknown._

"_You've got to be kidding me," Erica shook her head as she stopped directly in line with her friend, "There's no way I'm doing that."_

_Callie turned to her and smile, "I'm not kidding you in any way; we're doing it, its fun," she looped her arm through the blonde's and led her towards the ice rink._

"_Callie wait..." _

_The dark-haired woman stopped at Erica's whining tone, "Come on Hahn, you never back down from a challenge."_

"_It's not that, it's just... I can't skate," Callie looked amused by her confession, "I'll get killed if I go out there with all those people; I'm not good balancing on blades... or wheels for that matter."_

"_Well it's a good thing I have enough balance for us both then, come on," Callie dragged her towards the rental booth and grabbed them both a pair of ice skates. She watched Erica look at her pair in disgust and laughed, "You can look at them like that all you want, but you're still coming skating. So just put them on."_

_Erica grumbled in annoyance as she tied her skates and stood to face Callie. The younger woman held out her hand, and waited for the blonde to take it before leading her over to the rink entrance. Erica tugged Callie's hand before she stepped onto the ice._

"_Please don't make me do this," she watched Callie's eyes sparkle in amusement, "You know, it's cruel that you're exposing my weaknesses Torres."_

_Callie laughed and stepped onto the ice, pulling Erica onto it with her. She let go of her hand for a brief second so that she could turn to face the blonde, holding out both of her hands, "It may be cruel, but it's totally satisfying seeing the amazing and very accomplished Dr Hahn unsure about something."_

_Erica felt her legs wobble as Callie pulled her, getting her to move forward on the ice as she skated backwards, "I so hate you right now," she grasped the dark-haired woman's hands tighter, fearing that she would fall at any moment._

_The skating had gotten better, slightly less unsteady after a few minutes and Callie gave her an encouraging smile, "See, it's not that hard, you're already getting it."_

_Erica nodded her head, "I still hate it."_

"_I'm going to count to three and then I'm going to let go of your hands okay?" Erica's eyes widened in horror, "Just keep pushing your legs forward and you'll do great."_

"_Cal I'm not so sure about-"_

"_1... 2... 3"_

_Erica felt Callie's hands slide from her own, and instantly panicked. She hadn't been lying when she told the younger woman she couldn't skate. Even as a child she'd never mastered the technique for rolling skates, her mind never seemed to be able to keep her legs focused enough, and eventually she always fell._

_Today was no exception..._

_Within a matter of seconds the tip of her blade had caught the ice and she stumbled forward. Luckily for her Callie was much better on the ice and she'd moved forward to catch the blonde in her arms._

_Erica felt Callie's arms wrapped around her, and pushed herself back onto her feet; their faces millimetres apart; their eyes locked in an intense gaze as their warm breaths mingled in the small space between them._

_Callie adjusted her grip, standing Erica firmly back on her blades, and gave her a small smile, "Sorry, I should have listened to you."_

"_I guess it's a good thing that Ortho makes you so strong Torres," the blonde teased trying to find her balance again._

_The younger woman scoffed, "Funny..."_

_Erica smirked, and moved her foot a little, her terrible balance once again failing her and making her slip forward again._

_Callie witnessed the blonde's stumble and quickly scooped Erica into her arms again; tightening her grip so that the older woman wouldn't fall down onto the ice._

_Their faces were inches apart again and Erica felt a little dizzy, "You sure that you've got me?"_

_Callie nodded in response; her eyes never leaving Erica's own as her voice dropped to a whisper, "Always."_

_Erica felt a wave of something pass between them, and opened her mouth to find her voice. Callie seemed to sense the moment between them too, because she was pulling Erica to her feet again, and moving her arms from around her; reaching instead, to hold her hands like before. She started skating backwards again, pulling the blonde slowly forward._

"_I'm never doing this again Cal," Erica broke through the silence, lacing playfulness in her tone, "I think this was just an excuse for you to show off. It's because I always beat you at darts isn't it?"_

_Callie laughed and shook her head._

A gust of cold wind skimmed across the blonde's face and drew Erica from her thoughts. She took another sip of her coffee, annoyed when she found that the liquid had turned cold. She spun on her heel, throwing her coffee into the trash as she re-entered the hospital.

---------------------------

Callie didn't look up when the door to the Attending's longue opened; she was too busy lost in her own thoughts to deal with anyone else at that moment. When a small form moved in front of her eyes and sat down in the chair opposite her, she raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"You're not allowed in here Cristina, it's the Attending's longue, and as far as I'm aware, you're still a resident."

Cristina ignored the bitchy comment and studied her roommate for a moment before speaking, "Are you okay?"

Callie looked back at her in surprise, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're sulking," Callie opened her mouth to reply but Cristina continued before she had the chance to interrupt, "You always hide out in one of the staff lounges when you sulk."

"Maybe I chose to hide in the _Attending_ one this time so people like _you_ wouldn't interrupt me if I was sulking," Callie knew she was unnecessarily being a bitch, but she couldn't help it.

Cristina didn't respond to the dark-haired woman's outburst in the slightest, "What's up with Hahn? She's been acting weird for the last couple of days."

Callie looked away, "I don't know, we're not speaking."

Cristina waited until Callie looked at her again before speaking, "I heard her come by the apartment a few days ago, in the early hours of the morning."

"So?"

Cristina ignored the defensive attitude, "So, I don't know what's going on between you two, but when me and Meredith fight, we normally just need a few days away from each to cool off, and then one of us will give in and start bitching about something to the other, and just like that, we're back to normal."

"So, what... I should just go over to Erica and start talking to her as if we're not fighting at all."

"It's worth a try."

Callie shook her head, "That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard."

Cristina jumped up from the chair and headed towards the door, "I'm just trying to help," she gave Callie a shrug.

"Cristina wait," she offered her roommate a smile, "Thanks, for trying, I appreciate it."

---------------------------

Erica ignored the prickly sensation rising over the skin of her neck and kept her head down; continuing to fill in the chart she was working on. She finished writing her orders and grabbed another chart, the prickly sensation now turning into a heated burn. She relinquished her will power and lifted her head, catching Callie's eyes watching her intensely from the other side of the nurses' station.

Callie tore her eyes away from the blonde's and scolded herself, that was the third time today that she'd been caught looking at her. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks in embarrassment and refocused her attention on her paperwork. After a few seconds, she lifted her brown eyes back into Erica's direction, she couldn't help herself.

Erica let out a sigh of irritation as Callie's piercing gaze locked back onto her, she couldn't see the younger woman looking at her, but she knew she must be because her skin felt itchy. She looked up and caught brown eyes again. She placed her chart down and headed over to where Callie was standing.

Erica stopped a few centimetres in front of the dark-haired woman and lowered her voice, "Stop it."

Callie looked up at blue eyes in surprise, "Stop what? I'm not doing anything."

"You're watching me," Erica held Callie's gaze and shook her head, "I can feel your eyes burning into my skin Callie. You've been doing it all day and it's driving me insane, so stop it."

Callie bit the inside of her cheek, willing herself to stay calm, "So let me get this straight, I can't talk to you and now I can't even look at you?"

Erica nodded, "Not for awhile you can't, so please, just stop."

Callie watched Erica turn to leave and quickly reached out; curling her fingers around the older woman's wrist, "Hey..." she waited for Erica to look at her again but found that the blonde was unable to. She dropped her hold on Erica's wrist, "God, you can't even look at me anymore can you?"

Erica kept her gaze on the floor; squeezing her eyes shut until she heard Callie scoff. She felt the younger woman barge against her shoulder as she stormed passed her. She counted to ten before lifting her eyes in the direction Callie had gone, the younger woman was nowhere in sight and she felt like crying at the painful relief that passed through her.

---------------------------

Callie dumped her jacket and bag onto one stool and slid into the other. Joe noticed her entrance in the corner of his eye and excused himself from the customer he was talking to.

"Hey Callie, everything okay?"

She shook her head, "No, it's really not," she didn't even need to ask him for a drink, he simply gave her a sad smile and poured her a shot. She downed it immediately, and relished in the way the fiery liquid burned through the numbness that had taken over her body.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Callie gave him a small smile, "Thanks Joe, but I think I'm just going to sit here and drink on my own if that's okay."

He nodded, "Sure, I'll even leave you the bottle."

Callie handed over her money and thanked him for his kindness. Joe was always willing to lend an ear if someone needed to spill their feelings, he was even willing to offer his opinion and advice, but Callie was pretty sure that Erica would hate her even more than she already did if she found out that Callie had been sharing their secret with Joe.

She reached over the bar and grabbed a few more shot glasses, lining them up in a neat row before filling them with her favourite alcohol. As she tossed back shot after shot, her mind burst with memories of the fateful night that had led her to be drinking alone in the first place.

_Erica tangling one hand into her hair and titling her head to the side; dipping her lips as she moved her assault of open-mouthed kisses and nips across her honey skin, lathing at her rapid pulse point with her tongue, before nipping at the flesh hard enough to make her name fall from her lips in pleasure._

_Erica swirling her tongue around her lush mocha nipples before flicking the tip of her tongue over her hardened nub. _

_Erica twirling her tongue around her entrance, plunging it inside of her and drawing it out again only to replace it with three of her surgeon fingers._

_Erica scratching her nails against her skin as they heatedly thrust inside of each other._

Callie felt the alcohol dancing in her bloodstream, the fuzziness it created inside her body becoming the first feeling to break through her numbness in days.

---------------------------

Erica pushed open the door of the bar and instantly found her eyes drawn to Callie's drunken form slumped on one of the bar stools, her head resting against the bar.

Joe moved towards her and offered her an apologetic smile, "Sorry to ring you so late Dr Hahn. She's been here for hours drinking, she's practically passed out. I didn't know who else to call, you were the first name that appeared in her phone."

Erica nodded, "It's okay Joe, I appreciate you ringing me. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, the snow really has settled on the roads."

"Luckily Walter's coming to pick me up, I hate driving in the snow. If I'd have known how much she was going to drink I would have cut her off and sent her home way before she got like this."

She followed Joe over to where Callie was drunkenly slumbering and stood staring at her for a minute. Shaking her head she reached out and ran her hand over the younger woman's arm, "Hey Cal, wake up, you've got to go home now."

Callie stirred at the sound of Erica's voice and grumbled back a response. Joe moved to her other side, "I can help you get her to your car if you want?"

Erica nodded, "Thanks, I think I'm going to need it," she grabbed Callie's jacket from the stool next to her and twisted the dark-haired woman's arms carefully into it. Grabbing her bag she slung it over her shoulder and let Joe help her get Callie seated in her car.

"Sorry again Dr Hahn."

Erica smiled, "It's no problem Joe. I'm just sorry she drank all the alcohol in your bar," he laughed and thanked her when she handed him enough money to cover Callie's tab.

When they arrived back at her house, Erica got out of the car and opened her front door before coming back to help Callie from the vehicle. Throwing one arm around her neck, and another around her waist she hoisted the younger woman from the car and led her into her living room, settling her down onto the couch.

Erica pulled the jacket off Callie's body and bent down to remove her shoes. When she'd finished she lifted Callie's legs onto the couch and covered her with a blanket. Hazy brown eyes fluttered open and mumbled her name.

"Erica?"

She sat on the coffee table opposite the couch and reached out to brush the hair off of Callie's face, "Yeah I'm here."

"I'm sorry... really _really_ sorry..."

Erica noticed the tears escaping from the corner of the dark-haired woman's eyes and immediately brushed them away, "Shh, don't cry," she moved to run her hands through Callie's silken hair, "I'm sorry too, for everything."

The blonde kept running her hands through Callie's dark hair until she was sure it had lulled the younger woman to sleep. She pulled her hand back carefully, but remained seated on the coffee table, watching Callie sleep as her own tears escaped into the silence.

---------------------------

Callie instantly regretted opening her eyes, her head was throbbing like a bitch and she groaned in irritation that she'd caused her headache all on her own. After a few seconds she opened them again, and slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position.

She looked around the room in confusion, she remembered being at Joe's and drinking a lot. Shit, there was no way she could be in this house; there was no way that Joe had-

"Morning," she looked up at Erica's blue eyes in surprise, "I thought you could probably use these," she handed the younger woman a tall glass of water and two tablets for her headache.

Callie swallowed them down, and took several large sips of water before offering Erica an appreciative smile, "Thanks for these," she paused for a second unsure whether she should continue, "I guess I owe you a big thank you, I appreciate you coming to get me last night, and obviously for taking care of me like you always do."

"It's okay," Erica nodded, "You can use the shower if you want, I've left you some clothes out to borrow."

"Thank you," she watched the blonde shrug once before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Callie pushed herself up off the couch and headed up the stairs into the bathroom. She noticed the neatly piled clothes waiting for her on the small bathroom cabinet and the fresh towel that had been left folded for her on the rack.

She switched the shower on and jumped under its spray, enjoying the way the pounding water made her skin feel fresh. Callie noticed Erica's bottle of coconut shampoo and lifted it to her face, flipping open the cap and breathing in the scent; it always made the older woman's blonde curls so soft and shiny, and not to mention, smell irresistible.

Callie turned and tilted her head under the water, letting it soak her hair before grabbing the shampoo and pouring some into her hands. She massaged it through her hair, loving the way something so Erica was surrounding her; who knew that something as simple and everyday as her best friend's shampoo would soon become a pleasant rarity on the list of things she desperately missed.

After her shower she pulled on the clothes Erica had left for her, not before breathing in their scent; she loved the way everything in the blonde's house smelt so distinctively of_ her_, it was something that had always intrigued her about people; the way everyone had their own unique fragrance, but as her lungs filled with another breath of the blonde's smell, she came to the realisation that she'd willing pay money just to capture the scent of Erica Hahn in a bottle.

Callie quickly dried her hair, before heading downstairs to face her best friend again; the last time they'd been together in Erica's kitchen the blonde had ordered her to leave. As she made it to the bottom of the stairs she saw the blonde cooking away, her back turned to her.

"Hey, thanks for letting me use the shower, I needed one," it was slightly aloof and probably not the best thing she could have said but she needed a place to start and she was willing to take any opening she could.

Erica kept her eyes focused on the task at hand, ignoring Callie's voice; she wasn't ready yet, to have the discussion that was clearly going to come up between them, and it seemed easier to ignore it all together then to half get into it.

Callie shook her head and frowned, "Would you please stop cooking and look at me Erica?"

The blonde closed her eyes for a brief second and let out a deep breath before slowly turning to face the dark-haired woman, her eyes never quite meeting Callie's own.

"Do I disgust you that much that you can't even look me in the eye anymore?"

Erica hated the hurt she heard in Callie's voice and instantly wanted to take it away, "Of course you don't disgust me Cal."

"Then how come for the last week you've barely been able to stand the sight of me?" she fought against the tears building behind her eyes and lost, "Are you that repulsed by what we did?"

Erica shook her head, and watched as Callie turned away from her to wipe at her eyes. When the younger woman turned back to look at her she found herself unable to look away, "I can't look at you," her voice came out as a low murmur, "Because if I do, I see every little thing that I did to you," she paused to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, aware of how intently Callie was looking at her, "If I see you looking at me, I feel my skin prickle... I feel everything that you did to me..."

Callie took a step forward, "Erica-"

Erica kept her eyes locked on Callie's, "If I close my eyes, I see every single little part of that night in excruciatingly vivid detail..."

Callie felt her chest tighten as a strange realisation settled into her stomach. She breathed out deeply, shaking her head and frantically searching Erica's blue eyes as a beat of silence passed between them, "Oh my God... you're not disgusted by what happened between us at all, are you?"

Erica dropped her gaze down to the floor and took a deep breath, the conversation she so badly wanted to avoid wasn't going to evade her; she was going to have to deal with all of it right now. Slowly she lifted her eyes back to Callie's and shook her head, "How can I be disgusted by something that meant so much to me... you mean everything to me Cal," she let out a shaky breath and willed herself not to cry, "I don't want to lose you."

Callie watched as dozen tears escape from Erica's lush blue eyes, "It meant everything to me too Erica, I mean... Jesus, we're best friends, spending that night with you was always going to mean more to me than just an average fuck. But just because it happened doesn't mean that you'll lose me," she quickly moved forward as more tears escaped Erica's eyes; dropping them to the floor. Callie reached out to cup the blonde's face in her hands, drawing her eyes back up to meet her own, "You're still my best friend; nothing will ever change that Erica. I'm not going anywhere," she used the pad of her thumb to brush away the tears escaping down the blonde's pale cheeks and offered her a smile, "You haven't lost me. You could never lose me Erica."

Erica reached a hand up to cover on of Callie's and shook her head, "What if I told you that that night felt more right to me than anything else in my life," she watched as confusion crept into her brown eyes, "That being with you meant more to me than it probably should... that it meant way more than I ever imagined it would... would I lose you then?"

Callie narrowed her eyes in confusion and stepped back, "You mean...?"

"I think so," Erica nodded and looked away.

The younger woman felt her chest tighten, she couldn't breathe; her mind was working on overdrive trying to catch up with the words and all of the meanings behind them. She opened her mouth a few times to speak before closing it again unsuccessfully. Erica had taken a step back from her and was staring at the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

Erica lifted her eyes back to Callie, the younger woman looked thoroughly confused, and surprised, "I didn't know," she offered a half shrug, "When I woke up that morning, I was so confused... I couldn't remember much of it, it was all a blur. And then when it all started coming back to me, I just- I didn't know until I did, it just crept up on me Cal."

Callie shook her head, "This doesn't make any sense, you've been angry at me for days, you've been ignoring me like I didn't exist to you at all and now you tell me this," she looked away and ran her hands through her hair, "It doesn't make any sense Erica."

"What was I supposed to say Callie? It completely blind-sighted me... I didn't know what to do, I still don't."

Callie shook her head, "I should leave, I need time to process all of this," she hurried into the living room and pulled on her shoes, grabbing her jacket from the arm of the chair.

Erica caught held of the younger woman's arm as she headed towards the front door, "Callie wait... you just promised me that I wouldn't lose you. Please don't go."

Callie looked down at the floor, "I'm sorry," without looking at the blonde she pulled her arm out of her grip and walked out of the door.

The problem with an illusion is that eventually it begins to fade and real life starts shining through, breaking the fantasy world you'd created for yourself to live in, and leaving you to deal with the very real, and very messy truth.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Dance of Deception – Chapter Four – Deception**

Deception is really an intricate dance of dishonesty.

It's a dance where trickery and deceit dance around each other in circles in an attempt to create the perfect con.

Really it's the perfect dance of distraction, one that you never fail to notice; always too mesmerised by its beautiful twirls and graceful steps to see the reality and truth behind every one of the flawless movements.

Ever since Erica had been an intern, she'd loved going to work. Every time she entered a hospital she breathed in the familiar scent of disinfectant, recognising its sterile fragrance for something most of the other doctors failed to notice, comfort.

There was something very soothing about being a doctor, a surgeon. If you overlooked all the busy days and endless hours of paperwork, you were left with the satisfying reassurance that you'd done something important.

Erica had never been one to make friendships at the hospitals she was working in; instead she'd spent years mastering the art of turning into Dr Hahn as soon as she passed through the hospital entrance. Being Dr Hahn, instead of Erica, gave her a chance to hide away all of her weaknesses, all of the secrets that she didn't want to share with the world, and become, even if it was only for a few hours a day, the strong and confident Dr Hahn.

But today was different. Today, everything she'd ever known, ever felt, had shifted and left her feeling completely exposed and vulnerable; not even Dr Hahn could save her today.

She'd tried busying herself in work so that she wouldn't think about Callie, or about how Callie was reacting to what she'd confessed, but no matter what she tried, she found she couldn't concentrate, even in surgery, which had never happened to her before during her entire career.

After having made it through an easy surgery that morning she'd headed straight to the Chief's office and explained to him that she wasn't feeling well, he'd immediately told her to go home and get better, but she'd declined, asking instead if he could get someone to cover the surgeries she had planned while she stayed in her office and caught up on the piles of paperwork that she had.

And that's exactly what she was doing. Erica had grabbed a cup of coffee and hidden in her office for the rest of the day. She'd felt sick all day, especially when she'd gone in search of Callie only to find out that she'd called in ill, the dark-haired woman was probably avoiding her and she knew it.

She grabbed her phone off her desk, deciding to give Callie the benefit of the doubt that she was really sick. She typed away and stared down at her message, reading it over a couple of times before hitting send:

"I heard from Bailey that you're off sick. Hope you feel better soon, I'm thinking about you. Erica xxx"

The blonde stood from her desk and headed out of her office and towards the locker room, she couldn't stay at the hospital any longer; she'd caught up on all of her paperwork and her shift had ended hours ago.

She twirled the combination of her lock and blindly reached in to grab her scarf, when she pulled it off the shelf she was surprised to see the bright green headband that Callie had given her months ago when she first made the blonde join her at sunrise yoga classes.

_Erica took the offensive item from Callie's hand, regarding it carefully before meeting her eyes, "What the hell is this Torres?"_

_Callie laughed, "It's a headband, you know, the thing people wore back in the 80's when they were doing exercise to stop the sweat dripping down their foreheads."_

_Erica wrinkled her nose up in disgust, "Wonderful, and why are you giving me one?"_

"_Because you'll be needing it for yoga every morning," she waved her bright pink one in front of the blonde's eyes, "I'll be wearing mine."_

"_I'm not wearing this, we'll look stupid."_

_Callie laughed, "That's the point Erica, to have fun, I thought I'd taught you about fun already?"_

_Erica shot her a look, "I understand fun, but I don't understand how the obscene coloured headbands are going to help in the matter."_

"_It doesn't matter if they'll help or not, we'll wear them, it'll make our hair look crazy, and we'll poke fun at each other throughout the class," she flashed the older woman a smile, "Come on Erica, it's just a headband."_

"_I've never worn one before."_

_Callie feigned shock, "You haven't? But I thought you were in your prime in the 80's?"_

_Erica opened her mouth in shock, "Just for that Torres, I'm not wearing the stupid headband, and I'm not going to yoga. Ever."_

_Callie laughed and pulled the headband from the blonde's hands, stretching it and placing it onto the blonde's head, adjusting it so it sat perfectly across her forehead, her blonde hair puffing out on top and at the sides, "You will wear the headband, and you will come to yoga."_

_Erica shook her head but smiled as Callie placed on her own headband and pulled a funny pose, "And why would I do that Cal?"_

_The dark-haired woman broke out into her megawatt smile, "That's easy silly; you'll do it because you love me."_

The blonde shook her head, realising as she placed the headband back into her locker, that she never had denied it.

---------------------------

Callie groaned in irritation as Cristina burst through her bedroom door, she shot her a look before rolling onto her side.

Cristina walked around the bed and moved into Callie's vision, "Are you getting out of bed today?"

"No."

"What about work?"

"I rang in sick again," Callie grumbled into her pillow, wishing Cristina would just leave her alone.

"If this is about your fight with Hahn, then you should just suck it up and get over it. Don't miss out on awesome surgeries," she stopped for a minute to think, "Well, as awesome as carpentry surgeries can be, just because you're fighting with your best friend. It happens Torres, so deal with it."

"Cristina get out of my room before I physically remove you from it."

"Okay, okay, I'll leave. No need to turn all cage-fighter on me," she headed towards the door, "But seriously Torres, get your shit together, because this fight between you and Hahn is getting old."

Callie let out a sigh of relief as Cristina left her room, shutting the door behind her. She reached out and grabbed her phone, going into her inbox and reading the text Erica had sent her the day before for the thousandth time; 'I'm thinking about you.'

She closed the phone and threw it back onto the table, pulling the covers up and over her head. She hadn't replied to the text, or even to any of the seven phone calls Erica had tried to reach her with. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to the blonde; it was that she just didn't know what to say.

Everything she'd ever thought about them, about their friendship, had all come crumbling down around her as Erica uttered her confession. To say she was confused was almost comical, she was so far passed confused that her mind didn't even know where to start, and at the moment, that suited her just fine.

Callie laid still, her eyes closed, while she counted slowly in her head. As soon as she reached fifty, she heard the apartment door close; Cristina had finally left for work. She breathed a sigh of relief that her roommate would be gone for the day; she knew that she was just trying to help her, but how could she take advice based on nothing? Cristina didn't know the reason behind why they hadn't been speaking, and she most definitely didn't know that the last time they had spoken, that Erica had finally admitted what was really behind all the avoiding.

She let out a sigh of frustration and flicked the sheet off of her body, pushing herself into a sitting position against the headboard and running her hands through her hair. It was the second time in her life, that Callie realised she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do.

When George had confessed about his affair with Izzie, she'd felt completely empty, and yet her heart ached with a massive amount of agony. It wasn't necessarily the pain of knowing that he'd slept with someone else that caused her the most grief, it was the not knowing _why_ he'd done it in the first place; had she done something to turn him away? Or was she simply not good enough for him?

It had taken her a long time to figure out what she needed to do after he confessed. At first she'd tried to forgive him, she'd wanted desperately to give him a second chance, because if she didn't that would mean she'd failed in the first real relationship where she'd actually been in love with the person, and she couldn't stand the thought of failing herself.

With Erica, everything was different. She was her best friend, her confidant, her rock, her support; she gave her everything that George had never been able to give and yet somehow she'd never thought to think exactly what that had meant about them. Callie sighed in amusement, shaking her head at herself, she'd overlooked everything between them and now it was coming back to bite her in the ass.

Erica was without a doubt the closest, and the best friend that she'd ever had and she genuinely loved her, there was no question about it. Callie realised that she'd never needed to give it thought, she'd never needed to work into comfort with the blonde; it had always been there between them. Erica made her feel cared about, safe, and protected without even trying too hard.

Callie shook her head and turned to look at her phone, resting on the bedside table. She reached and drew it into her lap, turning it over a few times in her hand before flipping it open and scrolling through her images.

A smile instantly formed on her lips when she came across one of her and Erica together. She loved this photograph; it was taken on the first weekend break they ever took together, but mainly she loved it because it was the first photo the blonde had ever let her take of her.

"_How weird is it that we finally have the same weekend off?" Erica tilted her head towards the younger woman and gave her a smile._

"_It's pretty great considering one of us is normally stuck in the OR," Callie gave a shrug, "And then I don't have anyone to go shopping with, it makes me sad."_

_Erica rolled her eyes, "Trust me, just because we have the same weekend off doesn't mean I'm going to spend it letting you drag me around hundreds of clothes shops Torres. I hardly ever get a long weekend off and I plan to enjoy this one."_

_Callie stopped abruptly, reaching out and grabbing the blonde's wrist, "We should go away."_

"_Go away?" Erica studied her for a minute, "You mean like a weekend break?"_

_Callie nodded and smiled, "Yeah, it'll be fun."_

"_Aren't weekend breaks more of a couple thing Cal," She gave her younger friend a smirk, "I mean every weekend break I've ever been on has been for one reason; sex."_

_Callie scoffed, "So just because I'm not sleeping with you, you won't take a weekend trip with me?"_

_Erica laughed and shook her head, "Well seriously Cal, how many friends go away for weekend getaways? It's just an excuse for people to have sex and you know it."_

_Callie thought for a minute and then smirked playfully, "Okay you're right, most weekend breaks are for sex, but who says that ours has to be any different?"_

"_What? But we're not-" Erica opened her mouth in surprise._

_The dark-haired woman burst out into laugher, "I didn't mean us sleeping together Erica. I meant who knows, this weekend break could be the chance we both need for a good one night stand," she smiled at the blonde, "I don't know about you but the last time I had sex was with George and I'm starting to worry cobwebs may have formed."_

"_Too much information Torres."_

_Callie shook her head, "Seriously Erica, take a weekend break with me. We can drink, flirt with guys, even relax and be all girly... oh I've so got it, a trip to a spa!"_

_Erica shook her head looking scandalised, "Do I look like someone who enjoys spa's Cal?"_

_Callie looped her arm through the blonde's and tugged at her to start walking again, "Every girl needs some pampering sometimes Hahn, and you're no exception to the rule. I'm booking it and you're coming."_

"_Fine, but there will be no painting each other's nails and braiding each other's hair," Erica shot her a look to let her know she wasn't kidding and Callie simply rolled her eyes in response._

_Callie ended up booking them into a five star spa out in a wooded area away from all the busy hustle of the city. They got to have their own lodge to enjoy their space and were able to go to the main spa complex whenever they chose._

_Although the blonde had resisted to begin with Callie knew that she was secretly enjoying their trip; she'd even managed to get her to try a selection of the spa treatments. Unfortunately the one treatment she'd failed to sell Erica was the mud bath and she'd ended up going to that one alone._

_It was early evening by the time Callie had finished her treatment and left the spa to head back to the lodge, and as she walked up the pathway the building they were staying in she caught sight of Erica sitting out on the steps, reading her book as the setting sun shone through her golden hair. Callie couldn't resist, she dug her phone from her pocket and snapped the blonde's picture, knowing that her friend never would have let her taken it if she'd asked._

"_You did not just take my picture Torres," it was the sound of the blonde's voice that drew her attention away from the screen of her phone._

_Callie quickly hit save and offered the blonde a sneaky smile, "Of course not, I know how you hate having your picture taken."_

_Erica waited until Callie got closer before holding out her hand, "Let me see it."_

"_No," the younger woman shook her head, "You'll delete it," Erica nodded and held her hand higher, "I'm not giving it to you, we've been friends for months and I don't have any pictures of you, or us together, you always avoid the camera."_

"_That's because I don't photo well," she placed her bookmark into her book and placed it down beside herself._

_Callie slapped the blonde's hand away when she reached for the phone again, "I'll tell you what, I'll make you a deal."_

_Erica raised her eyebrow intrigued, "What deal?"_

"_If you willingly let me take a picture of us together, so that we can remember our trip in years to come, I'll show you the one I just took of you on your own, and if you hate it that much you can delete it. Deal?"_

_Erica sighed in defeat, "Fine deal, but just one picture."_

_Callie smiled in victory, "Stay there," Erica looked confused for a second before Callie climbed the steps and sat herself on the one above her; her legs on either side of the blonde's so that she was surrounding her. _

_Callie reached an arm around to Erica's chest and pulled her back a little, while she lowered her head to rest on the blonde's shoulder. With her free hand she stretched out her arm and turned the camera towards them, "Smile."_

_Callie turned the phone back around so that she could see their picture and grinned at what she saw; they were both smiling beautifully and Erica looked incredible as the sunlight added an angelic glow to her golden hair._

"_You like it?"_

_Erica twisted her head to look over her shoulder at Callie, "It's not bad. You can keep it."_

"_Good," Callie stood up and slid the phone back into her pocket, turning to enter their lodge._

"_Hey Cal," the younger woman turned to face the blonde, "You said you'd show me the over picture you took of me, promised I could delete it."_

_Callie hesitated for a minute before pulling her phone from her pocket, after a few minutes she passed the blonde her phone and waited silently until she heard it beep; signalling that the blonde had indeed deleted it._

_Erica handed Callie the phone back, "Thank you."_

_Callie smiled and took the phone back; walking back into the lodge and heading into her room. She flipped open her phone and scrolled through her images until she came across the one of her and Erica, they looked great. She scrolled further through her gallery until she came across the one of the blonde on her own. She smiled to herself, Erica Hahn was a pretty bright woman, but she wasn't very good with cell phones. Callie mentally patted herself on the shoulder for making a copy of the photo and renaming it so that the blonde wouldn't know that she still had it._

Callie scrolled down a couple of pictures until she came to the one of Erica on her own. The blonde never did find out that she'd made a copy of the photo and still had it. She let her eyes dance over the picture taking in everything she could about her best friend. She already knew that she loved her as a friend, but was there something more behind her feelings for the blonde? That was just something that she'd have to figure out, and pretty damn quickly.

---------------------------

Erica slumped down into her seat, throwing her tray onto the table in front of her. Callie still hadn't returned her calls, hadn't replied to any of her texts and was also missing from work again today. She sat forward, cupping her face in her hands and running them through her hair. This whole mess had gone from bad to worse in the blink of an eye and it was all her fault.

Her worry that Callie might be avoiding her had now turned from slight paranoia into complete and utter distress. After she'd left work last night she'd willed with everything she could that Callie really had been ill, and that she wasn't avoiding coming into work because she didn't want to face her after the blonde had made her confession.

But this was the second day Callie hadn't turned up for her shift, and the blonde knew for a fact that Callie would rather lose an arm than miss too much work. Out of the whole time that they'd been friends Callie had only ever missed work for two days, and that was because Richard had sent her home with the flu.

Erica lifted her hands to rub her face again and groaned into the darkness they created, life officially sucked.

"Someone sounds a little cranky this morning," she immediately lifted her hands away from her face and scowled at the sight of Mark, "Anything I can do to cheer you up? And I literally mean anything," he smirked smugly and gave her a wink.

"Do you have to sit with me Sloan? There's loads of other free tables in this cafeteria, can't you go sit at one of them and bother someone else."

"Aww come on Erica," he reached out to touch her hand and smiled when she pulled it away, "Don't be like that."

Mark Sloan was just another thing to add to her list of things that she could use without in her life right now. She took a deep breath and looked at him, "I'm having a bad day, so I'm asking nicely, please go and sit somewhere else."

"A bad day?" he shook his head and let out a laugh, "Don't you mean a bad week, you've been bitchy and grumpy for awhile now, and I think I know why."

She watched a smug smile form on his lips, "You don't know anything about me or my life Sloan, so leave it alone," she hissed in frustration.

"Of course I know about you," he shrugged, "Well a little anyway. You're blonde, blue eyed, bad attitude, sexy as hell and really you just want to spend the night with me while I-"

Erica pushed her chair from the table, "That's it, I'm leaving. You're a disgusting ape of a man and I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last guy on earth."

Mark laughed and stood quickly, reaching out and grabbing her arm, "I'm just joking, relax Hahn," he tugged at her gently until she sat back down, "Seriously though, what's going on Erica? Are you and Callie still having your lover's tiff? I know I haven't seen her in for the last couple of days, so whatever you did to her must have been pretty bad if she's avoiding work just so that she doesn't have to see you."

Erica pushed her chair back in anger, how dare he speak to her like he knew exactly what was going on between them. This whole thing was just a game to him and he was enjoying winding her up, "Fuck you Sloan."

She stormed from the cafeteria in such a hurry that she felt her vision blur, she was so livid that it didn't occur to her to look where she was going. As she blindly rounded the corner Erica felt the air leave her lunges and was grateful that whoever she'd bumped into had reached out and grabbed her, otherwise the force of their blow would have knocked her off her feet.

"I'm so sorry Dr Hahn, I wasn't looking where I was going," Cristina swiftly removed her hand off of Erica's arm as if touching the woman physically burnt her skin, "Are you okay?"

Erica nodded, "It's okay Yang, it wasn't your fault; I was the one who was storming through the hospital like a juvenile idiot," she rubbed at her chest.

Cristina studied her for a second, noticing for the first time how truly tired and upset the blonde woman looked. She knew that asking would probably get her kicked off cardio for months, and yet she still felt compelled to ask, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Erica felt the sudden overwhelming reason to cry and ripped her eyes down to the floor, biting her bottom lip and willing all of the hurt and pain to leave her body. She felt Cristina reach out and rub her arm, trying to offer comfort and let out a half laugh as she lifted her watery gaze back to the younger doctor, "How ridiculous is it, that I'm having the worst week of my entire life and the one person who's asking me if I'm okay is the one person who can't stand me."

Cristina smiled a little, "It's a little weird, I must admit," she nodded her head towards the coffee cart, "Let me buy you a coffee Dr Hahn," Erica opened her mouth to protest, feeling stupid and embarrassed by her inability to hide her emotion, but instead felt herself being dragged towards the coffee cart.

Erica took the coffee that Yang handed to her and took a long sip; the younger woman was staring at her as if she was awaiting some kind of explanation, "I'm sorry about this Yang," the blonde lifted her hand to her face, snivelling as she hurried to wipe away the tears escaping her eyes.

Cristina looked away briefly, giving the older woman a few seconds to compose herself before turning back to her, "Look, this really isn't any of my business, and not to mention it's definitely not my place to say but..."

"But?" Erica prompted, looking at her questioningly.

"Is this about your fight with Callie?" She let out a deep breath as the words left her mouth and tried desperately to figure out the unreadable expression in Erica's blue eyes, "I'm sorry, that was totally inappropriate, I never should have asked."

Erica felt a pang in her chest and a lump forming in her throat but immediately pushed it down, "Don't be sorry Yang," she offered her a smile, "Never apologise for something that you know without doubt that you're right about."

"So it is about Callie?"

The blonde nodded, "How is she? She's not retuning any of my calls and I don't-" Erica stopped herself, "I just want to know if she's okay?"

Cristina nodded, "Callie's fine. She's lying in bed at the apartment faking an illness," she saw Erica wince and continued, "But I get the impression that really she's just sulking about your fight," Cristina reached down and grabbed her pager, "I'm sorry but I have to go, it's Bailey," Erica nodded in response and gave her a small smile as she hurried down the stairs; maybe Yang wasn't so bad after all.

Erica headed to the locker room and grabbed her things; luckily she didn't have any surgeries booked for that afternoon, and the way she was feeling today, she'd be glad to leave the hospital as soon as possible.

As soon as she was home, she dumped her things down on the floor and grabbed hold of the house phone, dialling the number to Callie and Cristina's apartment off by heart and lifting the receiver to her ear. She breathed in and out deeply as each murmur of ringing filled her ears, and she willed Callie to pick up, since she knew she was home.

"Hey," the blonde felt her heart swell at the sound of Callie's voice and opened her mouth to respond, "You've reached Callie and Cristina, unfortunately we're not home at the moment, so please leave us your name and number and we'll get straight back to you."

Erica couldn't help the tears from flooding out of her eyes as she disconnected her call and placed the phone back on the stand. Callie was completely ignoring her home phone, which meant that she wasn't even willing to risk answering in case the blonde's voice came through the line.

Erica slumped down the wall, and pulled her legs up to her chest, sobbing into her hands; she was missing her best friend like crazy, and everything that had lead them to this point was her fault; she felt completely defeated and utterly alone.

---------------------------

Callie turned onto her side again, mumbling a curse into the air as she fidgeted, trying to get comfortable. She'd spent the day in bed again, hiding away from all of her problems, especially the problems that came in an Erica Hahn shape.

Suddenly she felt the cool air hit her skin as the bed cover was abruptly pulled away from her body, "Hey!" she shot Cristina an evil look and tugged at the sheet, "What the hell are you doing Cristina?!"

Cristina tugged harder at the sheet until she pulled if free from Callie's grasp, "Look Torres, you need to get your pathetic ass out of bed and go and talk to Hahn right now-"

"This is nothing to do with you!"

"Wrong! This stupid fight of yours is getting way out of hand Callie," she took a breath to calm her breathing, "She talked to me today, like actually talked to me without any yelling or belittling comments... and she was all sad and... and _weepy_!" she took in the surprise on her roommate's face before continuing, "She's a mess Callie, I've never seen anyone look as pained as Hahn did today. It was freaky," she shuddered at the memory and gave Callie a stern look, "So, you need to go and fix this, because I can't handle crying Hahn. I miss her being bad assed and bitchy and well... Hahn like!" she grabbed Callie's feet and pushed them out of the bed, "So get up and go and sort whatever is going on between you out; fix it, whatever the cost."

Callie watched Cristina turn on her heel and leave her room, slamming the door behind her on her way out. She couldn't believe that Erica had talked to Cristina, her best friend didn't hate her roommate but Cristina's over eager, ass kissing approach to surgery drove the blonde doctor to distraction; to think of Erica getting over her dislike for Cristina enough to cry in front of her was such a painful thought that Callie couldn't comprehend it at all... and knowing that she was the reason behind Erica's vulnerability and hurt was killing her.

Callie moved from the bed and frantically searched for her jeans, she knew she had to do something, Cristina was right, this couldn't go on any longer, and she had to be the one to make the next move. Erica had taken a chance and put herself out there, and now, it was her time to do the same.

---------------------------

Erica lifted her head from its resting place on the couch and listened carefully, she was pretty sure she'd heard her doorbell ring, but not many people other than Callie knew where she lived, and there was no way the dark-haired woman would be ringing at her door. After a few seconds of pure silence she glimpsed back at the TV and shook her head, she must have been imaging the whole thing; there wasn't anyone at her door.

The piercing sound of the doorbell filled the living room and this time was followed by a chorus of knocks. Erica slowly pushed herself up from the couch, if this was some salesman trying to sell her something at, she glanced at the clock as she headed towards the door – 10.43pm – she was going to burst into a flaming rage; all she wanted to do tonight, was be left alone to her wallowing.

Without bothering to look through the peep-hole, Erica grabbed held of the handle and swung the door open, ready to tell whoever was on the other side to leave her alone. Her brain stopped mid thought and her mouth opened and closed a couple of times like a goldfish when she caught sight of her dark-haired best friend standing in front of her, her gaze skittish, and her body hunched up nervously.

"Hey..." Callie couldn't help but take in the sight of the blonde before her, she was dressed in a pair of old grey sweats, with her favourite old black t-shirt with a picture of snoopy on; her hair looked ruffled, in that adorable way that bed head did, and her crystal blue eyes were hidden behind her thick, black, square-rimmed glasses. The dark-haired woman didn't fail to notice the puffiness surrounding those blue eyes she knew so well, an obvious sign of the tears that had been cried.

Erica let out a breath as Callie's dark eyes locked onto hers, "What are you doing here Callie? What do you want?"

Callie understood the hint of anger mixed in with the hurt that was laced in Erica's voice, but she couldn't help but want to take it all away, "When I left here the other night, after you said- after you said what you did," she noticed the blonde glance away from her and took a slight step forward, willing blue eyes to meet her own; when they finally did, she continued, "I drove around in the rain for hours. I kept replaying that night over and over again in my head, trying to make sense of it all," she noticed the blonde take a step back and reached out to touch her arm.

"Cal-"

Callie ignored the blonde's pleading tone, "But I realised then that the answer wasn't in the sex," she grasped Erica's hand and begged with her eyes for the blonde to just listen to her, "The answer was in us; in our friendship. It's always been there, hasn't it? This unspoken attraction that's never acted on or acknowledged because we're too afraid that we'll ruin our friendship if we do-"

"It's already ruined," Erica dropped her eyes to the floor and tried to pull her hand away, but the younger woman wouldn't let her.

"No it's not; you know that's not true. Erica look at me," she waited until the blonde's teary blue eyes settled back on her own before giving her a small smile, "We both know that you're just saying that because you're scared of what will happen if we stop pretending that acting on our feelings will destroy us-"

"Cal-"

"I'm done with being scared Erica," she felt tears building in her eyes and let out a deep breath, "I'm tired of pretending that what I feel for you is just friendship. I'm crazy about you Erica, and I know that you're crazy about me," she smiled when she saw a look of confusion flicker through blue eyes, "I want us to have our shot, because leaving what we have unexplored is the worst thing we could ever do, and I know that I'll regret it every single day of my life if we don't. I want to be with you Erica," she saw the blonde's expression soften and ran her thumb over her knuckles, "All you have to do is say that you want to be with me too?"

Erica felt more tears escaping her eyes as the meaning behind Callie's words truly hit her. She let a small grace her lips, "You don't need me to answer Cal; you should already know what I want."

Callie broke out into a beautiful smile and tugged at the blonde's hand at the same time that she took a step forward; her hand going to Erica's cheek as she sealed their new beginning with a slow, gentle kiss.

Callie pulled away; loving the stunning smile that had crept into the blonde's face and pulled her into her arms; holding her as close as possible and breathing her in, "God I've missed you," she breathed out against the skin of Erica's neck and brushed a kiss against the spot her lips were resting.

"I've missed you too, so much Callie," she moved back in Callie's arms, only further enough to lock their eyes. The intense look she received made her chest swell in affection and she let out a nervous breath as she looked down at herself; lifting a hand to wipe at her eyes, "I wish you'd warned me that you were coming, I look like crap."

Callie immediately noticed the blonde's shyness and reached out to tuck a piece of stray hair behind her ear, "That's funny, because I was just thinking that you've never looked more beautiful."

The blonde chuckled, "You must have really low standards then Cal. I mean look at me, I'm wearing sweats, an old t-shirt and my reading glasses; I look like shit."

Callie couldn't help herself; she flashed the blonde a smile and grabbed at her t-shirt; pulling her forward and crushing their lips together. She moaned into Erica's mouth when the older woman nipped at her bottom lip and easily slid their tongues together; kissing Erica Hahn sober was _way_ better than kissing her drunk.

Erica still looked a little shy when they pulled back and Callie realised that she liked this new side to her best friend, turned something more, "I think you look cute in your glasses," she placed another kiss on the blonde's lips, "Sexy as hell actually."

Erica moved to drape her arms around the younger woman's neck and smirked, "Since when do you have a thing for girls in glasses Torres?"

Callie shook her head, "I don't; not for girls in glasses, only the one," she dipped her head forward and captured the blonde's lips again, "Aren't you going to invite me in Hahn? It's kind of cold out here and we need to make up on a lot of lost time."

Erica took a step back, moving out of Callie's arms and holding out her hand; when the dark-haired woman linked their fingers together the blonde led them into the living room. Callie tugged at her hand and she turned to face her with a questioning expression.

"What's up?" she mentally held her breath, preparing herself in case Callie changed her mind.

Callie looked at the TV and then back at her, "Were you watching the second batman movie without me?" Erica smirked and nodded her head, "Oh that's so not allowed Hahn and you know it. Superhero films are my thing, you have to watch them with me."

Erica watched as Callie moved onto the couch, and patted the spot between her legs, "Get over here already, I want to watch the film," Erica rolled her eyes and moved timidly to sit between Callie's outstretched legs; the younger woman instantly pulling her back against her chest and wrapping her arms tightly around her, holding her close.

Callie nuzzled the side of Erica's neck, placing gentle kisses, before lifting her lips to her ears, "I'm sorry it took me so long to come to you. You know me; I had to go through my little freak out first before I could see how I truly felt," she felt Erica's arms move to cover her own and kissed her neck again, "I always knew Erica, I'm sorry I was so scared."

Erica looked back at her over her shoulder, "Don't be, I'm the one that should be sorry, I was so terrified that I freaked out and threw you out all in the space of a couple of hours," Callie smiled in amusement, "I'm really glad that you're here now Callie."

"So am I. I'm glad we finally made it here together," She let Erica shift in her arms and kiss her properly before they snuggled down together to watch batman.

Sometimes, if you're really lucky, and you watch every single movement of the dance carefully, if you focus on what each step, twirl, and spin means, you can see past the distraction they create with their endless rotations of deception and see what really lies behind it all; the truth.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Dance of Deception – Chapter Five – Reality**

If you look up the definition of the work 'reality,' you'll stumble across an explanation similar to this:

'The state of things as they actually exist.'

It's a pretty vague answer in response of the question to define the world's reality, but it sums it up as well as possible without having to spend countless hours arguing what our true reality is in numerous scientific and psychological terms.

Everyone has their own individual feelings about reality and what it is, but the one simple view that a lot of people appreciate is that, as long as you're living your life to the fullest, with no regrets and no lies then normally the reality of your world is pretty damn good.

It was the second time in just over a week that a bright light scorched through Erica's eyelids and forced the blonde to wake. As usual she fluttered her eyes open slowly, blinking rapidly against the overpowering sun and let herself adjust to the morning light, until her vision came into focus.

The first thing that became apparent as she awoke, was the surprising feeling of contentment filling her heart and head; the second was that for the first time since her and Callie had had drunken sex, she'd slept peacefully through the whole night.

It was a familiar heavy pressure across her stomach that caused her to tilt her head down; her blue eyes once again taking in the arm draped lazily across her torso. Erica smiled to herself when she noticed that the arm across her wasn't just any arm, that this belonged to a woman she knew very well.

Erica turned her head towards the direction that the arm was coming from and instantly blinked her eyes a few times in order to make sure that the vision of Callie sleeping next to her, wrapped comfortably under her dark red sheet, was actually a reality.

She watched her sleeping for a few minutes, thinking how different things had been the last time she'd woken up with her dark-haired best friend sleeping next to her. Erica was pulled from her thoughts when she felt gentle fingertips tracing patterns against the bare skin of her hip that had obviously come exposed by her t-shirt shifting in her sleep.

She lifted her eyes to find Callie's gentle brown orbs staring back at her, "Morning."

Callie smiled at her shy greeting and continued tracing her fingertips against her hip, "Good morning."

Erica let out a nervous breath, "Sleep okay?"

"Best night's sleep I've had in ages," Callie couldn't keep the smile from her face as she watched the blonde carefully.

The intense gaze in Callie's eyes made the blonde look away in embarrassment, "I guess we should get up," she shifted her body and made a move to get out of the bed, surprised when Callie's fingers tugged at her hip and pulled her until she was laying on her side facing her.

"I don't want to get up yet," Callie pulled the blonde closer, lazily entwining their limbs as their bodies pressed together; their faces now only millimetres apart.

Erica swallowed the lump in her throat, whispering, "Okay."

Callie slowly moved her hand on Erica's back, tracing patterns in the shape of a circle over and over again in hope that the older woman would unwind; instead she felt the blonde's muscle's flex in tension.

"Erica?"

"Yeah?"

Callie smiled, "Relax," she smiled even more when the blonde let out a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry," she bit her lip for a second before continuing, "It's just now that we..." she let out another breath and held Callie's eyes, "You make me nervous," her cheeks immediately flamed in a red flush and she looked away.

The younger woman felt her chest swell in affection, loving how the cool, confident Erica Hahn, had turned into a shy, blushing, adorable thing in front of her very eyes, "Erica," she smiled when the blonde looked at her again, "I like that I make you nervous, because you make me feel exactly the same way."

"Yeah?"

Callie smiled, "Yeah. I feel like I'm back to being a teenager and you're my first crush, making me all excited and awkward at the same time."

Erica let out an amused sigh and smiled, "For someone who says that they feel awkward, you actually seem more than confident to snuggle up with me."

Callie smiled back, and dropped her gaze to the blonde's lips before returning to her eyes, "I'm only acting confident because I'm afraid that if I don't, I'll never work up the nerve to kiss you again."

Erica felt the flush on her cheeks burn even more, "Oh."

The younger woman moved her hand to cup her cheek, running the pad of her thumb over the blonde's pouty bottom lip, "Can I kiss you?"

Erica flicked her gaze down to Callie's lush lips and nodded. She watched in amazement as the younger woman snuggled closer to her, and tentatively dipped her head towards her own; she let her eyes flutter shut as Callie's warm breath danced across her lips before they slid against her own in a tender kiss filled with the promise of a new beginning.

As they pulled apart Erica noticed the blush now covering Callie's own cheeks and offered her a shy smile before nuzzling their noses together; their eyes locking and holding as they took in the sight of the others affection, and for the first time understood its true meaning.

---------------------------

Erica closed her eyes and let her body relax under the pounding spray of the shower; the deliciously hot water easing her muscles into complete relaxation. She lifted her hand to her face and pushed her fingers through her hair letting the water soak her blonde curls into a straight mess. She grabbed her shampoo from the shelf and massaged her fingers against her scalp as thoughts of Callie filled her mind.

_Erica watched the credits scroll across the screen, keeping her body completely still as her eyes stayed focus ahead, afraid that she might upset the new balance of closeness they had established. She felt Callie's head move from its resting place on her shoulder and shivered as a warm breath puffed against her ear; soft lips pressing a gentle kiss just below it._

_Callie felt Erica shift in her arms, turning her body so that she could find Callie's brown eyes, "Enjoy the movie?" the blonde instantly scolded herself, after everything they'd been through, she couldn't believe that that was the first sentence out of her mouth._

"_I did," the younger woman smiled and then let out a nervous half laugh, "Can I be honest with you?"_

_Erica nodded, "Of course."_

"_I feel a little awkward, like I want to do things and say things to you but I'm," she shrugged, "A little unsure if I'm... allowed."_

_Erica pushed herself up, moving out from between Callie's legs and smiled as the dark-haired woman hurried to push herself upright. She reached over and took Callie's hand between her own, smoothing her thumb across her knuckles, "I know what you mean," she looked away shyly and let out a breath, "Before, I wouldn't even think about holding your hand, I'd just reach out and do it, but now, I feel like I have to build up the courage for twenty minutes in my head before I actually do it."_

_Callie smiled as she looked down at their hands, pulling them into her lap and giving the blonde's hand a gentle reassuring squeeze, "We should make a pact, no more awkwardness."_

"_And how are we going to do that?"_

_Callie thought about it for a minute, "Maybe we should try not to over think things. If we want to do something, we should just do it and not worry about how the other might react."_

_Erica flashed her a half smile, "So, if I wanted to... kiss you, for instance," she dropped her eyes to Callie's lips briefly, "You're saying that I should just do it?"_

_The younger woman nodded her head, "Mmm yeah, you should definitely just do it."_

_The blonde smirked at the timid expression that skittered across Callie's face and lifted her free hand to brush a stray piece of dark hair away from her forehead. She smiled shyly before letting her fingers cup Callie's cheeks; tilting her head forward and brushing their lips together in a series of slow caresses._

_Callie dropped her hand onto the blonde's thigh at the same time that she timidly ran the tip of her tongue across Erica's full bottom lip; seeking entrance into the warm crevasse of her mouth. She felt Erica's fingers slide from their position on her cheek and into her hair as their tongues came together in an appreciative dance._

_They pulled back breathlessly and let their foreheads rest together. Erica ran her tongue over her own lip and savoured the remaining taste of Callie's strawberry lip-gloss, "I think I like the new pact already."_

_Callie opened her eyes and smiled as her eyes found the mischievous twinkle reflected on the surface of Erica's gleaming blue eyes, "Me too," she leant forward to kiss her again, "I think it's the best pact I've ever agreed to," she flicked her eyes over to the clock and let out a sigh of irritation as she took in the time, "It's already midnight; I should go home and get some sleep, I've got an early shift."_

_Erica let Callie stand before jumping up and grabbing her hand again, "Stay here."_

"_Are you sure?"_

_Erica shrugged and moved past the younger woman without speaking another word. She tugged at Callie's hand and led her up to her room. She passed her a pair of old shorts and a t-shirt to change into and headed into the bathroom with her own sleeping gear. When she reappeared a few minutes later she found Callie standing nervously at the end of her bed; she flashed her a smile and crawled under the covers._

"_Cal," she knew the other woman was remembering the last time she'd spent the night here, and how the morning after had turned into a unnecessary disaster, "Stop thinking and get in."_

_Callie let out a shaky breath and shook her head before walking over to her side and crawling under the covers; she kept her body still as Erica switched off the lights and counted the passing seconds in her head. At the sound of Erica's laugh filling the room she shuffled onto her side to face her, "What's funny?"_

"_Us," the blonde rolled onto her side, "We never laid this far apart even when we were just friends."_

_Callie chuckled, "You're right, this is ridiculous," she rolled back onto her back and stretched out an arm, "Get over here Hahn, I want to cuddle with you."_

_Erica snuggled closer to the younger woman immediately, lazily throwing one of her legs across Callie's as she rested her head on the dark-haired woman's shoulder; tucking her face into the crook of Callie's neck as strong arms wrapped around her body and held her; she closed her eyes and enjoyed the way they fit together._

She shook her head as she switched off the water and stepped from the shower, laughing at how easily their nervousness had returned this morning when they woke, knowing that it would always be there between them while they adjusted their friendship into a relationship. She quickly towelled herself dry and threw on some clothes before heading down to the kitchen. Erica paused at the bottom of the stairs and watched as Callie softly sang along to the radio while she cooked.

Erica moved into the kitchen, sneaking behind the younger woman and sliding her arms around her waist, drawing her back against her chest as she nuzzled the side of Callie's cheek with her own. She felt Callie's arms cover her own as she relaxed into the embrace, "I can't believe how much I've missed you these last few days," she placed a kiss on Callie's cheek and moved to nuzzle her ear.

Callie squirmed as Erica's teeth nipped at her lobe and quickly twisted around in the blonde's arms, draping her own loosely around her neck; her eyes taking in the lingering red mark on Erica's neck, "I'm sorry I-" she dropped her eyes down to the mark, "I've never done that before, to anyone. I don't know what came over me."

Erica smirked, "It's okay Cal, I mean we did get a little carried away and..." she trailed off as Callie brushed her fingertips over the mark on her neck and couldn't help the low moan that escaped her throat, "Hmm; it's still sensitive."

She watched a wicked gleam appear in Callie's eyes before the younger woman offered her a sexy smirk; dipping her head towards her neck and letting her lips glide over the sensitive, red, bite mark. Erica closed her eyes as an appreciative tingle crept down her spine; Callie's lips, tongue and teeth grazing against her neck in a flurry of touches.

Erica tangled a hand into Callie's long hair and let out a growl as the younger woman continued to torture her neck, "Fuck Cal..."

Callie trailed her lips up to Erica's ear, nipping playfully at her lobe before sucking the flesh into her mouth. She heard the blonde moan her name and felt propelled to kiss along her jaw until she reached her lips; their mouths crushing together in a heated kiss.

Erica felt herself being pushed backwards until her back connected with the hard edge of the kitchen table; within seconds Callie's hands had gripped at her hips and lifted her so that she was seated on top of the wooden surface. She moaned as Callie pushed herself between her legs; her lips once again moving to attack her neck in a series of kisses, nips, and licks that left her toes curling.

Her head felt fuzzy as her body hummed to life under the younger woman's touch, feeling the need to get some control back, she pulled Callie's mouth back to her own; biting down on her lip until the dark-haired woman moaned into her mouth. Quickly, she wrapped her legs around Callie's curvaceous hips and pulled her closer.

Callie pulled back, breathing heavily and moved her hands to the bottom of her top; pulling it over her head and throwing it to the floor before moving in to claim Erica's kissed bruised lips again. She worked her hands between them as their tongue duelled in perfect sync, fiddling to undo the buttons on the blonde's shirt.

Erica gasped in surprise as Callie pulled back from her mouth; barely catching sight of the dark desire in her brown eyes. The younger woman growled in irritation; ripping her shirt undone and watching as a few of the buttons flew into the air. Before she could register what was happening, Callie was kissing her again; her hand groping her breast through the material of her bra.

The blonde pulled back and tried to find her voice as Callie began kissing down her chest, "Callie wait," she grabbed at her shoulders until the younger woman straightened up and moved to kiss her again, "We have to stop," she sucked in a deep breath as teeth grazed over the pulse point in her neck.

Callie slowed her kisses down against the blonde's heated skin and breathed her in, mumbling, "Okay," before lifting her head to find Erica's darkened blue eyes.

Erica saw a flicker of rejection cross Callie's eyes and reached out to cup her face in her hands, smiling shyly, "It's not that I don't want you," she leant forward and placed a chaste kiss on the younger woman's lips, "I just think we should wait a little while, I don't want us to mess it up."

Callie nodded her head and smiled, "I guess I just got carried away again, I'm sorry."

Erica let out a laugh, "I'm not," she ran her hands over the skin of Callie's back, gently raking her nails against her flesh; making the younger woman shiver, "When we do this Cal, I want it to be right. It can't just be us losing it in my god damned kitchen all the time."

Callie laughed and smiled brightly, "I think your kitchen has magical powers that make us want to jump each other," she helped the blonde from the table and picked up her shirt, pulling it back over her head before eying Erica's shirt carefully, "I'm sorry about the buttons."

Erica bent down to pick them up and playfully threw one at Callie, "It's a good thing this isn't my favourite shirt, otherwise you'd be dead meat Torres."

Callie moved towards her and smirked, "What if I promised to make it up to you," she grabbed the blonde's hips and drew her forward for a kiss.

After a few seconds Erica moved out of Callie's reach, "We have to stop, otherwise we'll never get to work, we're already late," she pointed a finger past Callie's shoulder, "Not to mention we've already burnt breakfast," Callie looked at the burnt food for a second before sauntering towards Erica again. The older woman caught the look in her dark eyes and smirked, "Callie no..."

As soon as Callie's lips glided against her own again she let go of her control and kissed her back passionately; they were already running late for work, so what difference did a few more extra minutes make.

---------------------------

Callie grabbed Erica's hand as she moved to open the car door, getting the blonde to turn back towards her. Erica watched the younger woman struggle for words and linked their hands together, letting her thumb trace comfortingly across Callie's knuckles.

"Okay," Callie let out a breath and licked at her dry lips, "Me and you, we're in this thing together now right? I mean we're not just friends anymore, we're..."

"A couple, yes," Erica offered a reassuring smile and lifted their joined hands to her lips, placing a kiss on the back of the dark-haired woman's hand.

"Good, that's good," she breathed out a sigh of relief, "I mean not that I thought we weren't, or that I didn't want us to be. It's just we haven't really talked about an official name for it yet and I-"

"Cal, you're rambling," Erica smiled as her eyes registered the flustered look on Callie's face, "You're right we haven't given it an official name yet," she paused for a minute, letting her chest swell in affection for the woman in front of her, "This is going to be cheesy, and ridiculous and totally un-Hahn like, but... I want you to be my girlfriend," she looked away feeling embarrassed at the juvenile word, "I want us to be girlfriends... as in exclusive girlfriends."

Callie laughed, "Have I told you how cute you are when you're flustered?" she watched Erica shoot her a look and moved as close to the blonde as she could possible get inside the car, "And we'd better be exclusive because I don't think I can watch anyone else near you, seeing you with that guy Jack at that club had me on a major jealous streak."

Erica quirked an eyebrow, "Is that right?"

Callie nodded and leaned in towards the blonde and captured her lips between her own, kissing her slowly. She pulled back and nodded her head, "Yep, just as I thought, I was right."

The blonde felt confusion flood her body, "Right about what?"

Callie flashed Erica her megawatt smile, "Kissing my girlfriend is way better than just kissing my friend."

Erica pulled Callie's lips back to her own, letting their kiss linger for a few seconds before pulling away, "You're right Torres, kissing my girlfriend does feel pretty good."

"Pretty good?" Callie frightened offence, and laughed against Erica's lips as the blonde kissed her again.

"Really good."

Callie smiled playfully, "Yeah, that's what I thought Hahn," she sat quiet for a moment as a thought entered her head, "We're a couple."

Erica nodded and quirked a brow, "I thought we just established that?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I know we're a couple, it's just... we're a _couple_," Callie carefully watched the blonde's face for a response.

"Okay, you've completely lost me Cal," Erica looked away for a second, "Are you freaking out or something?"

Callie let out a chuckle and tilted Erica's face back towards her own, "No I'm not freaking out," she placed a chaste kiss on the blonde's pouty lips, "I just meant that we're a couple now, and we haven't done much coupley stuff yet, like cuddling, and holding hands-"

"Callie we cuddle and hold hands all of the time."

"But it's different now," Callie sucked in a deep breath, "I want us to go on a date together, I want us to celebrate finally getting to this stage."

"Are you asking me out on our first date Torres?" Erica smiled teasingly.

Callie nodded her head and smiled, "Yes. I want to take you out for dinner, tonight after work. Will you go with me?"

Erica pulled her in for another kiss, loving how she could chose to kiss the younger woman whenever she wanted, "Of course, I'd love to go on a date with you Cal."

Callie smiled beautifully, "I can't wait," she turned her gaze to the hospital and let out a sigh, "I wish we didn't have to go in today."

"I wish we didn't either," she pushed her door open a little, and offered the dark-haired woman a smile, "But just think, the sooner we get in there, the sooner the day will pass, and the sooner we can have our date."

Callie jumped from the car and smirked, "Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you're being all logical?"

Erica let out a laugh and locked her car as she headed towards the hospital; Callie quickly caught up to her and linked her arm through the blonde's; entering the hospital together like they always did, but knowing that something was definitely different.

---------------------------

Callie let herself into the fifth floor on-call room and immediately plopped down on the bed. She'd had the worse morning ever, there had been nonstop trauma's rolling in since she and Erica had arrived and since then, Erica had been stuck in surgery, and she'd been left to deal with a set of rowdy teenage ice hockey players, who'd all managed to break some kind of bone, in what she could only presumes was a totally vicious match.

After missing the blonde at lunch and then hearing that Erica would be stuck in the OR for much later than she imagined, Callie felt really grouchy. It was a childish emotion really, but after spending so many days away from the blonde, all she wanted to do now, was wrap herself around the other woman and stay secluded from the rest of the world while they got lost in each other.

Callie lifted one hand behind her head and lifted the other to trace her fingers along her lips; feeling the tingling sensation that had remained all day from her make-out session with Erica in the kitchen earlier that morning. She felt stupid as she thought over their fight the morning after their night together, in a way she'd always known why the older woman was struggling so much with what had happened between them, because she felt the exact same way.

Callie let out a breath and shook her head, she'd known the minute she'd woken up in Erica's bed what had happened, and she didn't even need to see the blonde's angry blue eyes, because she had remembered nearly all of it. She'd known, when Erica had been dancing with Jack at the club that she was jealous, and although her heart ached with the reason why, her mind had rationalised that she just didn't want to see her friend get hurt by some macho guy.

It had been the surge of alcohol racing around her body, that had given her the courage she had needed to dance with Erica, and it had been her heart's true desire to kiss her; that was the real reason she had, not because she was so drunk that she wasn't thinking clearly, but because she knew that deep down, kissing the older woman was what she'd always wanted and never been brave enough to admit.

Callie scolded herself for her reaction the next morning; she'd known that Erica hadn't been ready to face the truth of what really laid between them. In reality they'd both always felt the intensity of their relationship, but it had been Callie that had initiated their closeness; she'd been the one who craved the need to be touchy feely with the blonde, she'd been the one that had started off their playful banter, that always held a hint of flirting, Erica had always been the one to go along with it.

She'd catch Erica staring at her sometimes, her deep blue eyes filled with a mixture of unreadable emotions; always carefully guarded under control by her Dr Hahn front. But sometimes, if she was really lucky, the blonde would let her control slip and she'd catch a glimmer of Erica's affection for her.

They'd both been stupid for far too long, always shrugging off any moments that passed between them and acting as if they hadn't noticed the wave of intimacy that surrounded them. It made Callie feel guilty for waiting until alcohol had taken them both under its spell, before pushing herself a step forward and taking the risk she always wanted.

Callie snapped out of her thoughts as the door came open and Erica took a step inside, closing her eyes and leaning her back against the wood as she took in a few deep breaths.

"Tough day?"

Erica's eyes flickered open as Callie's voice reached her ears and she smiled, "Surgery was a nightmare, but we managed to get the guy through it without as many complications as I thought he'd have."

Callie pushed herself up and off the bed, taking a tentative step towards the blonde, "That's good," she smiled shyly and moved so that the space between them was barely there, "I've missed you today," she lifted her hand to brush a piece of hair away from older woman's forehead, "I can't stop thinking about you Erica."

The blonde woman closed her eyes as Callie leaned towards her and kissed the corner of her mouth, "I couldn't think straight in that surgery, all I could think about was you Cal, it's driving me insane," she let Callie pull her away from the door and hug her against her body; wrapping her arms around the younger woman's neck and breathing in her scent.

Callie pulled away and smiled at her, "I can't wait for tonight, I know where I want to take you."

Erica smiled back, "Well I trust you, so I bet it'll be amazing," Callie smiled brightly and moved in to kiss the blonde properly; pulling back when the older woman laughed against her lips.

"What's funny?" She raised her eyebrow inquisitively as she took in the amused sparkle in Erica's blue eyes.

"We're in an on-call room together," she shook her head, "It's just a little ironic, how we're suddenly turning out like everyone else in this damn hospital."

Callie let out a laugh thinking of what everyone's faces would look like if they caught them coming out of an on-call room together. Erica laughed with her, obviously thinking along the same lines. When the laughter died away and left them in silence, their smiles faded from their faces and they stood looking at each other; their gazes dancing across the other's face.

Erica wasn't sure who made the first move but the next thing she knew, her back was pressed hard against the door and Callie's mouth was attached to her own. She moaned as the younger woman's tongue danced across her bottom lip and snuck between her lips; instantly caressing every inch of her mouth.

She moved her hands to tangle into Callie's silken locks, as the dark-haired woman gripped at her hips and pushed a leg between her own. Erica pulled her lips away from Callie's mouth and whimpered as the younger woman pushed against her even harder and trailed her hot, wet, kisses along her jaw, stopping to suck on her earlobe before teasing the sensitive skin of her neck with her pearly teeth.

Erica lolled her head to the side, willingly giving the younger woman more room work. She felt Callie's hand slide from her hips, her deft fingers sneaking under the thin material of her scrub top and gliding up over her ribs until they cupped her breasts; a talented thumb flicking across her hardened nipple and making her ground down onto the thigh pressing against her centre, a desperate need to feel more, consuming her.

Callie growled against Erica's neck as the blonde's heated centre pressed against her leg. She quickly moved to capture the blonde's lips again, letting their tongues duel in a passionate battle; her fingers shakily slipping from rounded breasts to fiddle with the tie on the older woman's scrubs.

Erica forced her eyes open as she pulled away from Callie's luxurious lips in a frantic need for air; her hazy gaze focusing on long fingers pulling the knot in her scrubs free and pushing underneath the material; setting against her throbbing centre.

Callie kissed her again, slower this time as her fingers timidly stroked Erica through the thin fabric of her panties; the blonde's moan humming against her lips. Erica pulled Callie closer, letting her face bury into the crook of the younger woman's sweet smelling neck. Callie moved her free hand to tuck underneath the older woman's thigh, lifting it to wrap around her hip as her fingers pushed aside the material of Erica's panties and brushed against her enflamed clit for the first time.

Erica gasp as the younger woman teased her bundle of nerves; and moved her mouth to suck over the sensitive skin of Callie's racing pulse. The dark-haired woman moaned at the sensation of Erica's arousal covering her fingers and settled into a rhythm of alternating patterns she'd mapped out across the blonde's throbbing desire.

"More..." was all Callie could make out of the jumbled words being murmured against her neck. She moved her fingers through Erica's heated slit, circling her entrance before sliding a lone finger into her.

Just as Erica opened her mouth to beg for more, the shrill sound of both of their pagers echoed through the room and drew them from the moment. Callie stilled her finger inside the blonde and leaned back to find Erica's eyes; the older woman nodded her head towards the pagers and whimpered when Callie withdrew herself from inside her.

Erica lowered her leg from Callie's hip and let the younger woman steady her; her legs adjusting to the pounding tingling that had settled between them. The dark-haired woman tied her scrubs again, and gave Erica a shy smile as she sucked her finger into her mouth to clean away the sticky sweetness that had been left behind. Erica tried not to moan at the sight of Callie tasting her as she reached down and grabbed her pager.

She coughed, clearing the dryness from her mouth, "Another trauma's on its way in."

Callie nodded as she read the same message on her own pager; lifting her eyes to find Erica's blue, "I knew we shouldn't have come in today."

"We better go, the ambulance will be here in five minutes," she ran her hands through her hair quickly and adjusted her scrubs, trying to erase any signs of what had almost happened.

Callie watched Erica turn and grab the door handle, and reached out to tug at her wrist, "Wait," when the blonde turned to look at her she lifted a hand and ran it over her bottom lip, "Your lipstick had smeared."

"Thanks," Erica found it hard to pull her eyes away from the lingering desire reflected in Callie's dark pools.

"Erica, about just now; I'm sorry. I know you wanted to wait until it's the right time," she let out a shaky breath and gave a small shrug, "And so do I, I just... I really want you."

Erica leant forward and kissed her quickly, "Cal it's okay, I want you to... badly," her pager went off again and she smiled apologetically, "I have to go, but I'll see you tonight okay?"

"Can't wait," she watched Erica leave the on-call room and took a deep breath as she counted away in her head; making sure she'd left enough time between Erica's exit and her own. When she finally stepped out into the hallway she shook her body, willing the building sexual tension in her body to leave; waiting for the right time was definitely going to kill her.

---------------------------

Callie bit her lip nervously as she waited for Erica to open the door, and when the blonde finally did, the younger woman was totally surprised; all of the air in her lungs rushed out of her of gawking mouth.

Erica smiled shyly, "Hey you."

Callie couldn't stop herself from trailing her eyes all over the older woman's body. Normally Erica chose to wear black when she was going out on a date, it was a typical little black number that Callie had seen her in a number of times. But tonight, Erica was wearing a daring red dress which clung to her curves in all of the right places, its low neckline showing just enough of her cleavage off to drive Callie completely insane; not to mention the slight slit up the sides, making Erica's divine legs look even longer than they normally did as they drew down into her black heels.

The younger woman was even more amazed that her best friend had taken a chance to play around with her hair. Normally it fell into bouncy curls, or flowed down her face in a silky straight fashion; tonight however, the majority of her golden hair was gloriously pinned up, leaving a few loose curls cascading down around her face, framing her beautifully.

Erica noticed the surprise in Callie's dark eyes, the smile falling from her lips as her mouth dropped open a little, her gaze taking in her appearance from head to toe, "You look incredible Erica... wow..."

The blonde let her eyes flutter away from the younger woman's burning gaze as she stuttered out her compliment; a heated flush covering her cheeks in response, "Thanks," she forced herself to breathe as she looked over Callie's body; she looked gorgeous, a mixture of sexy and eloquent in her dark, midnight green dress, "You look stunning Cal," she smirked a little when the dark-haired woman blushed, "Very sexy in green."

Callie pushed herself a step forward and cupped Erica's cheek, drawing her in for a sweet, gentle kiss. She rested their foreheads together when she pulled back, "I have no idea where you got this red dress from Erica, but it's making me all kinds of crazy and we haven't even left your doorstep yet."

Erica took a step away as Callie leaned in to kiss her again, "No more kissing," she rolled her eyes when Callie pouted out her bottom lip in protest, "Don't give me that look Cal, you know we can't keep kissing, because if we keep kissing we won't leave, and if we don't leave, we won't get our date, and I really want to go on our date. So promise me, no more kissing, for a little while at least."

Callie sighed, "Fine, no more kissing for awhile, I promise," she held her hand out and waited until the blonde slid their fingers together before tugging at her gently, "Come on Hahn, we've got a date to get started."

Erica let out a little laugh and quickly locked her door, letting Callie lead her to her car and take her wherever the dark-haired woman had planned. After a short drive, they arrived outside a small, but expensive looking little restaurant.

"What is this place?" the blonde asked as Callie came around to open her door, holding out her hand to help Erica out of the car.

Callie smiled and entwined their fingers, "It's this little Cuban restaurant that just opened up here in Seattle. My dad called me and told me to check it out, apparently they have one in Miami that he just loves," she smiled at the doorman as he opened the door and let them inside, "So I wanted to save it until we could share it together; our first date seemed like the perfect time."

Erica looked around as Callie gave her last name and let the small Cuban waiter lead them over to a secluded table in the far corner, gentle candle light emitting a flickering glow around them as they sat down. He passed them each a menu and took their orders immediately.

"It's really beautiful in here, thank you for bringing me," Erica smiled over her wine glass; her eyes holding Callie's.

The younger woman reached across the table and slid her hand over Erica's, "Thank you for being you. This place would mean nothing if I didn't get to share it with you."

The rest of their meal passed in perfect ease, they talked, they laughed, they even flirted like crazy over dessert, with Callie using the whipped cream from her plate, her spoon and her tongue to drive Erica to distraction; the blonde cardio doctor caught on to Callie's winning smirk and quickly snatched the game back by running her bare foot along the younger woman's leg, trailing along the inside of her thigh until Callie blushed beat red.

Callie paid the bill and took Erica's hand as they left the restaurant; tugging gently as the blonde headed back to the car, "We're not going back to the car yet, just walk with me for awhile."

Erica raised an eyebrow in confusion but complied, slipping back into a calming pace as they walked along the waterfront; the lights from the surrounding building bouncing off of the glimmering water and making a number of colours reflect back at them in a mesmerising dance.

The blonde tugged at the younger woman's hand as she walked towards the water; leaning her arms on the railing and watching the twinkling lights of the boats off in the distance. Callie moved behind her at once, encircling her waist and resting her head on the blonde's shoulder.

Erica sighed, and held Callie's arms tighter around her body, "This has been a really amazing night Cal."

Callie nuzzled her face into Erica's neck, kissing at her skin, "It really has," she lifted her head as Erica turned to look at her over her shoulder and leant forward to brush their lips together, "I love how natural this feels, how natural _us_ feels."

Erica smiled, "I feel the same way; it's amazing," she broke Callie's gaze and turned back to face the water.

Callie sensed the blonde stiffen in her arms and kissed her cheek, "What is it? Tell me what you're thinking."

"It's just, this whole thing is so new..." she let out a shaky breath, "We've been friends for so long that I'm worried about what will happen if we don't work out. I don't want to lose our friendship Cal, it means too much."

Callie pulled Erica closer against her chest, nuzzling her ear, "We will work out Erica, everything's going to be fine, I promise you."

"You don't know that, you can't."

Callie pulled back, her hands going to the blonde's hips; turning her around until they were facing. She lifted a hand to cup Erica's cheek and smiled shyly, "You have to believe everything will be okay," she held the older woman closer, "It has to be, because I don't think I could ever live without you again Erica."

Erica pulled Callie closer, catching her lips with her own and kissing her with as much emotion as she could, letting her kiss convey everything that she felt for the younger woman, "I believe."

Callie smiled brightly, and turned her head to one of the buildings behind her; loud music playing out through one of the windows. She turned back to Erica, "Dance with me?"

Erica looked around scandalised and slipped from her arms, "Callie, there's people around, we can't. We'd look ridiculous."

Callie shook her head and took a step forward, holding out her hand, "I don't care, we've been dancing around this stupid deception between us for far too long; so I don't care if people look at us like we're crazy idiots, I just want to be with you," she took another step forward, "I know that you don't care what they think either, so dance with me?"

Erica shook her head and smirked; taking Callie's hand and letting the brunette pull their bodies close together, swaying her in a gentle rhythm to the sound of the faint music. Erica slid her arms up around Callie's neck, while the younger woman slid her hands down to her ass; making the blonde chuckle; if this is what it felt like to believe, then count her in.

---------------------------

Callie walked Erica to her door, and smiled playfully as the blonde blocked her from entering and turned to linger in the doorway; arms crossed over her chest, "And just where do you think you're going Torres?"

Callie wiggled her eyebrows and smiled, "I just took you on an amazing date," she stated proudly.

"And?" Erica raised an eyebrow as she drew the word out.

"And... Aren't you going to invite me in?" Callie tilted her head to the side and smirked sexily.

Erica let out a laugh and shook her head, "What date was it?"

Callie's brows furrowed in confusion, "What?"

"What number date was it Cal"?

"It was our first date," she smirked, pleased with herself for getting the easy answer, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Erica smiled in amusement, "Everything Cal. I don't do stay over's on the first date."

Callie's face fell a little, "But we've kind of already crossed the three date rule Erica, can't I just come in for a little while?"

The blonde laughed when the younger woman pouted, "Cute, but the answer's still no Cal."

Callie moved towards her, sliding her hands to Erica's neck and letting her fingers play with the fine hairs at her nape as she pulled the blonde in for a hungry kiss; their lips fusing together as their tongues danced in a fiery rhythm. Callie nipped at the older woman's lip when she pulled back and raised an eyebrow.

"Nice try Torres, but the answer's still no," she moved out of Callie's arms and slipped into her house, closing the door to leave only enough space for her to see Callie's look of disbelief.

Callie moved up to the door, letting her eyes find blue, "I can't believe you're not inviting me to stay the night, especially after what happened in the on-call room today."

Erica shook her head and smirked, "That was super hot Cal, and if we hadn't have been interrupted, I would have let you take me against the door," she held a hand up as Callie opened her mouth, "But we agreed we should wait, I want our first proper time together to be special; it needs build up."

"Erica..." Callie whined, "Trust me it really doesn't need any more build up, I think I'll explode if you don't let me touch you soon. I really want you."

"If you really want me Cal, you'll wait," Erica offered her a sweet smile that signalled she'd won, "Night."

Callie watched the door close behind the blonde and let out a sigh; smiling to herself when she realised the blonde was right, waiting could be sexy, the longer the build, the hotter their new first time would be. Callie headed back towards her car; yeah she could definitely do with another steamy night of built up sexual tension with Erica Hahn.

---------------------------

Erica rubbed her eyes as she padded bare footed to the door; tugging tightly at the belt on her robe to make sure her body was completely covered, whoever was ringing her doorbell this early on a Sunday ought to be shot.

The door opened, revealing a very surprised Erica Hahn, wrapped nice and snug in her royal blue robe, "Morning you," Callie leant in and pressed a kiss to her lips before holding up the bag she held in one hand and the drinks holder in another, "I stopped by the coffee shop on my way here and grabbed us a wake-up call each, and a selection of pastries, so I hope you're hungry."

Erica pushed the door open and looked on in curiosity as Callie passed her and headed into the kitchen, emptying the contents of the bag out onto the counter, "Cal it's," she looked up at her clock, "It's 7.00am, what the hell are you doing up so early on a Sunday?"

Callie smiled sheepishly and pushed a coffee towards the blonde, "I couldn't sleep and I was thinking about you so," she gestured to the coffees and the breakfast she'd supplied, "I thought I'd come over and bring you some food, thought maybe we could spend the day together," she watched Erica look at her in amazement and shrugged, "We hardly ever get the same day off, I wanted to make the most of it."

Erica lifted her coffee to her lips and took a deep sip, "I'd love to spend the day with you. Thanks for surprising me with breakfast, it's very sweet."

Callie held her arms open as Erica moved towards her and hugged her close, "I couldn't sleep last night, I'm finding it hard not being all cuddled up with you."

Erica kissed Callie's neck, "Me too, it doesn't help that your half of my bed smells like you."

"You're the one that wouldn't let me stay over," she pouted and then broke out into a smile when Erica rolled her eyes.

"How many times have you stayed over someone's after a first date?" Erica watched a smirk form on the younger woman's lips and shook her head, "Forget I asked, I have a feeling I won't want to know."

Callie watched Erica move to sit at the table with her coffee, and grab a pastry from her selection, "You can't tell me that you've never had sex on the first date?" she sat down opposite the blonde and sipped at her coffee, choking a little when a look of embarrassment flickered in Erica's blue eyes, "Oh my god, you haven't, have you?"

Erica swallowed the mouthful of pastry she was chewing; shrugging her shoulders, "It's no big deal Cal; I just like to know the person a little better before I let them- before I get all naked with them."

Callie smiled, "And here I was thinking that the three date rule was a myth."

Erica threw a chunk of pastry in her direction, "Shut up Torres," she stared at her for a moment, "So do you always have sex with a guy after the first date?"

Callie blushed, "Erm, not always. It depends on how much I like them."

Erica nodded, "That last guy you dated a couple of months ago, Tim, I think his name was, did you sleep with him on the first night? After you left Joe's with him?"

Callie looked away, "I don't want to talk about this."

"Why not? It's not like I don't know that you've had sex before me Cal."

Callie shook her head and let out a breath, "You'll think I'm a slut because you don't have sex with guys on the first date for fun; you wait until its right," she stood from her seat and leant against the kitchen sink, looking directly out of the window.

"Firstly," Erica surprised the younger woman by wrapping her arms around her, "I would never think that you're a slut, and secondly I've never really been into sex that much," she felt Callie stiffen in her arms and spun her around; holding her eyes, "I never dated a guy that really got me going," she let out a chuckle, "But I'm guessing that properly has something to do with the fact that I'm pretty sure I'm gay," she gave Callie a small smile, "You're the only person that I've ever wanted so badly that it's all I think about, that ever makes my skin feel like it's on fire whenever you're around and I know that all I'm waiting for is for you to brush against me, and then I'll be up in flames without any desire to ever stop," she looked away a little embarrassed until she felt Callie cup her cheek, "That's why I wanted to wait with you, not because I have some stupid three date rule, but because I'm afraid that once we start I'll never want to stop; all I've ever wanted is to feel every single part of you Cal."

Callie kissed her once gently and held her eyes; looking into her intensely as a beat of silence passed between them, "I've fallen in love with you Erica," she felt the blonde shiver in her arms as her blue eyes brimmed with tears; a shaky smile forming on her lips, "It doesn't matter how many people have been before you, because you're the only person I want for the rest of my life."

Erica let out a happy laugh and smiled, "I think you already know how I feel," she saw a smile tug at the corner of Callie's mouth, "But just in case you don't, I'm very much in love with you too Cal."

Callie smiled and let her eyes convey everything she wanted to say; leaning forward she cupped Erica's cheek in her hand and tentatively brushed their lips together, enjoying the simple pleasure that came from knowing that this kiss would be the first in many love filled years to come.

She felt Erica sigh into her mouth, while she tightened her grip on her hips; pulling their bodies closer together as their gentle kisses continued. Callie splayed her hand out on the blonde's soft cheek and danced her fingers to caress the side of her neck, her thumb stroking against Erica's jaw line as she brushed her tongue against the older woman's pouty lower lip.

Erica opened her mouth at the younger woman's quiet request, and let their tongues come together in long, slow strokes. She moaned when Callie pulled away, nipping at her bottom lip and moving to trail her kisses up along her jaw; her other hand carefully cradling her face.

Callie nuzzled her nose against Erica's ear, kissing the soft skin below it, "I love you."

Erica shivered as Callie's warm breath whispered out against her ear; she whimpered a response as the younger woman's lips travelled down the expanse of her neck; her supple lips awarding every inch of her skin with warm kisses. She trailed her hands from their position on the dark-haired woman's hips and up to her back; holding her closer as her teeth and tongue grazed against her rapid pulse.

Callie moved back to kiss the blonde's lips in an unhurried kiss; everything about this moment, everything between _them_ was contained in gentle passion. Erica pulled back from Callie's kiss and turned to nuzzle her cheek more fully into the younger woman's palm.

For the first time, her heart ached in a way that wasn't painful in the slightest; it ached instead, with the intensity she felt for them, for the dark-haired woman standing in front of her; who was looking at her with the most breath taking look of adoration in her deep, chocolate, brown eyes.

Erica slid her hand down into Callie's; making note of the way their skin tones glided together in surprising contrast. As she lifted her eyes back to Callie's, she smiled shyly at the blush that had crept onto honey cheeks; everything she was feeling was mirrored back at her in an incredible fixed gaze of intimacy; their love completely represented by an equal balance of desire.

"Come upstairs with me Cal," she lifted their joined hands between them and used her free hand to brush her fingers over their skin.

Callie looked down at their hands and then back up to Erica's crystal blue eyes; murmuring, "Are you sure?"

Erica nodded her head, "I want to make love to you."

Callie felt her chest swell and burst, she wasn't sure if it was the way Erica was looking at her with such intensity or whether it was the way she'd said 'make love,' instead of 'sex,' but whatever the reason, she knew without a doubt that she wanted to claim the blonde hers in mind, body and soul.

She brushed a kiss over the blonde's lips, "Me too," she smiled genuinely and let herself be led up the stairs and back into the room where it had all started.

Erica let go of Callie's hand and moved to stand in front of the bed, smiling shyly at the younger woman, as Callie watched attentively her from her place in the doorway; a look of deep thought crossing over her face. After a few seconds of comfortable silence Erica held out her hand, smiling when Callie moved towards her without hesitation.

Callie lifted her fingers to brush a piece of hair off of the blonde's face before leaning forward and brushing a lingering kiss across her forehead. Erica closed her eyes at the simple gesture, letting the younger woman trail a series of kisses down her cheeks, over her eyes, onto the end of her nose and finally to the corners of her mouth. She reached out to cup Callie's cheek and drew her in for a leisurely and thorough kiss.

Erica felt one of Callie's hands threading through her hair and pulling her closer; their gentle kiss beginning to become more heated as their tongue's dulled for the upper hand. Finally breaking for air, Erica moved her lips to trail butterfly kisses along the caramel skin of Callie's jaw, stopping to nip and suck on her earlobe before continuing her exploration down the delicious skin of her neck; her tongue fluttering over the younger woman's increasing pulse point.

Callie lolled her head back on her neck, letting a low moan escape her throat as Erica lavished attention over her neck. She tangled her hand into Erica's glorious blonde curls, and held her as close to her body as possible. She felt Erica's hands skimming down her back and slipping under her shirt, her deft fingertips skimming across the soft skin of her lower back.

As she tugged at Erica's hair and brought the older woman's mouth back to her own, she felt the blonde's fingers slide around to her hips, her hands bunching up the material of her shirt in their grip and raising it ever so slightly as their kiss continued. Callie pulled back a little and gave the blonde a small smile as she raised her arms and let her pull the fabric up her body, over her head and down to the floor in one swift motion.

Erica tenderly lifted her hand, and trailed the tips of her fingers across Callie's clavicle, her eyes mesmerised by every new inch of revealed skin. She lifted her eyes to lock with the dark-haired woman's, as her fingers danced across her bare shoulder and continued down her arm until she reached her hand; instantly letting their fingers entwine.

Callie smiled timidly and lifted her free hand back to Erica's face, drawing their mouths together for an unrushed kiss; letting their tongues come together in a slow paced dance. She lifted one hand up between them, and worked her fingers nimbly at the belt on the older woman's robe; freeing it from its neatly tied knot.

Erica felt Callie pull away from her lips as she moved to rest their foreheads together; her blue eyes fluttered open to find brown gazing back. Callie slid her hand from the blonde's and moved it to join her other as she let go of the ends of the belt; letting the royal blue robe hang loosely around Erica's body.

Callie guided her hands up the blonde's arms and settled them onto her neck; her fingers sliding slowly down and slipping under the soft material of her robe to rest on her bare shoulders. She lifted her forehead off of its resting place against Erica's own, to put a small amount of distance between them; her eyes never leaving the older woman's as her hands skimmed against her skin, and edged the robe tentatively down her arms; exposing every inch of her naked flesh as it fell gracefully to the floor around their feet.

Erica gasped as the cool air wisped against her heated skin, amazed that Callie's eyes hadn't wavered from her own. Callie smiled reassuringly at her and moved around her body, pushing her wayward curls to one side of her neck and placing a pathway of gentle kisses along the other; her calm fingertips dancing across the blonde's stomach and drawing distracting patterns across her skin with her nails.

Erica moaned in delight, as Callie traced her fingers down her spine; her lips kissing a trail across her shoulder blades. She fought the urge to turn around and pull Callie's mouth to her own; clawing her hands into fists at her sides in a desperate attempt not to lose control while the younger woman doled out her affection.

Callie heard the blonde whimper as she continued scattering open-mouthed kisses down the smooth skin of her back; her hands grasping at Erica's curvaceous hips to help her keep steady. She glided her palms down the side of the blonde's thighs as she nipped at the sensitive skin of her lower back, soothing it over with her tongue a moment later.

Erica felt her head loll back as Callie's sloppy kisses moved down the back of her thighs; her gentle fingertips trailing down her calves and back up to her hips as her luxurious lips returned to teasingly assault her neck in a sequence of tender nips and moist kisses.

Erica growled as Callie's fingers moved to skim the soft, supple flesh of the underside of her breast and twisted around; her hands tangling into the younger woman's dark hair as she crushed their mouths together in a fiery kiss.

Callie bit at Erica's lip as the older woman scratched her nails down her back and easily released the clasp on her bra; her hands sliding back up to the brunette's shoulders and brushing the straps down her arms, letting the garment fall down to the ground.

The blonde pulled away panting, her lips sliding over the younger woman's neck in lavish licks and kisses; muffling her moan into her sweet smelling skin as their naked breasts pressed together. Callie tangled her hands into Erica's hair as the older woman kissed a heated trail across her clavicle, nipped down her chest and paid tortuous attention to her breasts. Erica flicked her tongue across the younger woman's awaiting nipple, blowing cool air over it, and smiling in satisfaction when Callie growled her pleasure. She stopped her teasing, sucking the nipple into her mouth and rolling it with her tongue and teeth before switching across to repeat her actions on the other taut mocha peak.

Callie barely recognised the breathy whimper that escaped from between her parted lips as the blonde knelt down before her; nipping at the sensitive skin of her stomach and swirling her heated tongue around her navel, while her fingers worked away unclasping the button on her jeans and easily sliding down the zipper.

Erica felt the younger woman's grip tighten in her hair as she shimmied her jeans down her long, tan legs and nipped playfully at her hip before soothing the hurt away with her tongue. Erica rocked back on her heels to take in the sight before her; Callie was breathing heavily, a heated flush covered her chest and cheeks, and her usually dark brown eyes looked almost black as she stared down at her through her long lashes.

The older woman hurried to hook her fingers into Callie's panties, drawing them down her legs, and letting the younger woman grasp at her shoulders for balance while she stepped out of them. Erica trailed a pathway of gentle kisses up the dark-haired woman's lean thighs, stopping briefly to breathe in the sweet smell of arousal in between her legs before standing back up to be face to face with the younger woman once again; their eyes locking intimately.

Callie tugged Erica's mouth to her own; kissing her passionately as she pushed the blonde towards the edge of the bed. Erica felt her knees give way as she fell onto the sheets, Callie quickly covering her body with her own and resuming their heated kiss at once. The blonde moaned as the younger woman dragged her tongue into her mouth with maddening suction and pushed her thigh between her legs.

Erica pushed at Callie's shoulder, and rolled them over, altering their position as she moved to straddle the younger woman's lap. Callie watched in lust strict awe as Erica sat above her; her milky body sitting beautifully upon her, her head thrown back as she moved her hands over her own breasts; teasing her nipples with her thumb and index finger.

Callie groaned and pushed herself up into a sitting position, knocking Erica's hands away from her breasts and covering them with her own as their lips met in a slow, sensual kiss. Erica whimpered as Callie dragged her lips across her jaw, and sucked at her ear; her skilful hands gently caressing her breasts.

Erica tangled her hand into Callie's hair as the younger woman bent her head down and caught one of her sensitive buds between her lips; bathing it with heated strokes of her tongue and grazing it with her teeth before turning her attention to the other. Callie trailed her hand down the blonde's smooth stomach, and in between the cleft of her legs; her deft fingers slipping through Erica's arousal and brushing against her throbbing clit.

"Fuck Cal..." Erica moaned and undulated her hips harder against the dark-haired woman's hand.

Callie lifted her head to capture the older woman's lips in a passionate kiss; sliding three of her long fingers up into the blonde's inviting core and flicking her thumb across her bundle of nerves. Erica dropped her head onto the younger woman's shoulder, murmuring her pleasure as Callie continued to thrust into her over and over again; making sure to flick her thumb against her clit with each drive into the blonde's core.

Erica tightened her grasp around Callie's body, letting her nails bite into the younger woman's caramel flesh as her burning release built low in her stomach with every second that passed. The blonde felt Callie's warm, panting breath against her ear and willed herself to concentrate on the words being spoken to her.

"Baby, look at me..."

Erica lifted her head to find Callie's dark eyes; instantly resting their foreheads together at the request. She felt the satisfying tingle burning between her thighs and let her eyes flutter shut at the pleasure.

Callie brushed their lips together in a slow kiss as she increased the pace of her thrusts; leaning their heads back to rest against each other and whispering, "Open your eyes Erica, I need you to look at me baby..."

The blonde forced her eyes open; breathing raggedly out against Callie's lips. Callie held Erica's blue eyes as she curled her fingers, and adding additional pressure to the older woman's sensitive clit. Erica felt Callie hit the right spot deep inside her, and felt the rushing sensation of burning fire pool between her legs; her muscles clamping down hard on the dark-haired woman's fingers as she moaned out her intense release.

Callie watched in awe at the stunning sight before her eyes; Erica's darkened blue eyes fluttered shut, a heated red flush coloured Erica's chest, and her name fell from the blonde's lips in an adoring moan of appreciation as her orgasm rocketed through her. Callie moved her lips to kiss the blonde's neck and ear, as she held the older woman's quivering body in her arms; running her hand soothingly up and down her back while she stilled the fingers she still had resting inside Erica.

Erica breathed deeply against Callie's neck; her body enjoying the sated spell the younger woman had cast over her with her talented fingers. She pulled back; finding Callie's dark eyes and kissing her as slowly as possible, imprinting the memory into her mind. Callie smirked when the blonde let out a whimper as she gently withdrew her fingers; lifting them to her mouth and savouring the taste of Erica Hahn on her tongue.

The older woman grabbed her face between her hands and dragged their lips back together; moaning into the brunette's mouth as she tasted herself against Callie's tongue. Erica pulled back and smiled; brushing a piece of stray hair away from Callie's face.

"I love you Cal."

Callie willing met Erica halfway as she leant forward to kiss her; the blonde pushing her down to the bed with her weight and pinning her under her milky white body. The younger woman let herself revel in the divine pleasure the blonde ignited in her body as her supple, pouty lips travelled down her chest and settled to distribute pleasure over her breasts.

Erica lathed at Callie's nipples, sucking them into her mouth and pinching them with her fingers as the younger woman twisted beneath her. Blowing cool air over the dampness her mouth had left behind on Callie's nipples, she smiled against her skin as the dark-haired woman growled her name. She slid further down Callie's writhing body, kissing her way down the smooth skin of her stomach, and nipping gently across her tan thighs until Callie whimpered. The blonde glided her tongue over the silken skin where Callie's thigh joined her pelvis; groaning in delight when the younger woman crashed her hands into her blonde hair and tugged her to where she needed her most.

Erica hooked her hand under Callie's thigh and drew it over her shoulder; her eyes instantly shutting at the younger woman's wonderfully overpowering scent. She trailed a few kisses across Callie's slit which earned her a flurry of incoherent grumbles in response while she reached out for the younger woman's hand, entwining their fingers together as she looked up to search out Callie's lust filled eyes. Erica licked at her lips and dipped her head, sneaking her tongue between Callie's slick folds and running it from the top to bottom several times.

"Mmmm fuck..." Callie squeezed Erica's hand and lifted the hand she had in the blonde's hair to tease at her own nipples.

The blonde swirled her tongue around Callie's entrance, pushing inside of her and drawing back out only to replace it with two of her long digits; her tongue going straight to Callie's clit and bathing it in a series of alternating strokes. Erica felt the younger woman's pelvis undulate against her face as Callie's hand crashed back into her hair, she curled her fingers as she slowed down her strokes; taking Callie's clit into her mouth and sucking until the dark-haired woman's body trembled, her walls clenching around her fingers.

Callie screamed out Erica's name as the waves of pleasure crashed over her body; her grip in the blonde's hair falling away as she tried to catch her breath. Erica licked the younger woman clean, loving the low whimper that escaped her throat as her tongue brushed her hypersensitive clit. She lifted her head and crawled back up Callie's body; their faces hovering inches apart as Callie's deep, brown eyes flickered open.

Callie reached up to cup the blonde's cheek, pulling her down for languid kiss; their tongues undulating together in a natural rhythm. Erica pulled away and rolled onto her side next to the younger woman's body, pulling her into her arms and laying a gentle kiss across her crown.

The dark-haired woman nuzzled her face into Erica's neck, and lazily entwined their limbs; she felt the blonde's arms wrapped protectively around her body, her deft fingers soothingly running through her hair and let her sated body and heavy eyes fall into a peaceful slumber.

---------------------------

Erica felt Callie stir against her neck and trailed her fingers lightly down the smooth skin of her arm. She smiled as she felt the younger woman's lips brush several gentle kisses against her pulse before she lifted her head to find the blonde's blue eyes, "What time is it?"

Erica looked over at the clock as Callie snuggled closer once again, "It's a little after one, we've missed lunch, but at least we slept for a few hours."

Callie smiled as the older woman brushed the hair away from her face and trailed her fingers across her jaw, "Erica?"

The blonde stilled her movements and sought out the younger woman's eyes; a nervous look flickering over her face, "Yeah?"

"You look like you're over thinking," she flashed her a sleepy smile and shuffled their positions, laying so that they were on their sides facing each other, "You're not going to change your mind about us and throw me out again are you?"

Erica shook her head and smirked at Callie's playful tone, "I was thinking about how much I love you actually."

"Really?" The older woman nodded her head shyly. Callie reached out and drew their lips together, "That's funny, because I was thinking the exact same thing about you."

Erica closed her eyes as Callie leaned in to capture her mouth again in a languid, love filled kiss. She couldn't help but smile at the images that ran through her head, "Earlier when we..." she trailed off and bit at her bottom lip.

"When we made love," Callie offered, filling in the missing half of her sentence.

Erica nodded her head; repeating her, "When we made love," she paused for a minute thinking for the right word to describe it, "It was incredible," she knew it wasn't nearly enough to convey how she felt but it was as close as she could get, "You're incredible, and not to mention fucking sexy Torres."

Callie let out a laugh, "You're pretty damn sexy yourself Hahn," she slid her hand from the blonde's waist to slap playfully at her ass; her expression changing serious, "You, us... it was the best experience of my life, I've never had that kind of intimacy with anyone before."

Erica smiled, "Me either, being with you was beyond perfect," she cupped Callie's cheek, "I really am so unbelievably in love with you Callie."

The younger woman felt her heart swell in affection, "I can't believe how much time we wasted over all of this," Callie pressed her palm to Erica's chest, feeling the beat of her heart, "It was so stupid because I knew the whole time that deep down I was in love with you Erica."

"I knew too, I was just afraid, but I'm not anymore," Erica lifted her hand to cover Callie's and drew it to her lips; pressing a kiss against her skin.

"Me either," she cuddled closer to the blonde's body, allowing the time to tick away as her fingers drew circles around the older woman's nipple.

"We should get up," Erica broke the silence, "We need to grab something to eat before I let you drive me crazy and decide that we're never leaving this bed again."

Callie smirked sexily, "That sounds fine to me."

Erica chuckled and shook her head, moving to untangle herself from Callie's body and slipping from the bed, "We need to get washed."

Callie pushed the sheet away from her body and rubbed at her face before heading over to the blonde and wrapping her arms around her waist, "Have a bath with me? That way we can get washed and snuggle some more."

Erica kissed her, "Since when are you so into snuggling? I thought you didn't bask in the afterglow of sex."

Callie grabbed the blonde's hand and drew her into the bathroom, "With you everything's different," she saw a blush creep onto Erica's cheeks and smiled brightly as she began to fill the bath, "Since when do you blush so often? I thought nobody could make the hardcore Dr Erica Hahn blush?"

Erica watched as the bath filled with steaming water, "With you Cal, everything's different."

Callie shook her head and climbed into the bath; loving the way the hot water felt against her skin, "Quit stealing my lines," She watched the blonde's eyes travel over her body as she licked at her lips; she caught Erica's blue eyes and beckoned her with her finger, "Get in here now, before I pull you in."

Erica followed Callie's orders and stepped into the bath, settling her body between the younger woman's legs and letting herself be pulled tightly back against Callie's chest as strong arms wrapped around her body.

Callie nuzzled her face against Erica's neck, kissing at her skin and breathing her in, "I love having you all wrapped up against me."

Erica leaned further back and sighed in contentment as she tugged Callie's arms further around her body and closed her eyes in absolute satisfaction that her life couldn't get any better than it was right in this moment.

They stayed relaxing in the bath for as long as they could; their skin eventually pruning and telling them to get out. As they dressed Erica caught Callie studying her with such a look of wonder and amazement that it stole her breath away.

She turned more towards the younger woman, "How do you do that?"

Callie raised an eyebrow in question as confusion flooded her brown eyes, "Do what?"

Erica let out a breath, "Look at me like you haven't seen me nearly every day for the past two years."

The dark-haired woman moved towards her, grasping her hip with one hand and brushing a blonde curl away from her forehead before cupping her cheek; her eyes holding blue intensely, "Because really I'm seeing you for the first time all over again," she smiled, "I saw you every day before, I just never really _saw_ you, and now... well now I can't believe how I missed it; you're so breathtakingly beautiful Erica, and you were right there in front of my eyes the whole time."

Erica smiled brightly, "Every time that I think I can't fall anymore in love with you, you go and do or say something like that and I fall in love with you all over again."

Callie brushed their lips together in a gentle kiss, pushing the blonde back towards the bed. She felt Erica smile against her lips as they fell back onto the bed, rushing to free themselves from their restraining clothes and prove their love for each other all over again; who needed food when they could stay in bed, lost in each other.

---------------------------

Erica turned the key in the ignition and allowed the car's engine to come to a stop. She let the keys dangle in their place and turned to look at the younger woman in the passenger's seat next to her; Callie's cheeks were covered in a slight pink blush, her eyes looked wide and nervous and her lips looked pouty and full, "Callie, you okay?"

Callie turned towards the blonde and smiled, "Yeah baby, I'm fine," she reached over and grabbed Erica's hand, "I'm just a little nervous that I won't be able to keep my hands off of you once we get inside and everyone will find out."

The older woman smirked, "If you keep calling me baby every ten seconds then I'm pretty sure that that will give us away first."

Callie rolled her eyes, "We're still in the 'beginning' phase Erica, I can't help wanting to call you baby and kiss you every chance I get."

"And as much as I'd love to spend all day letting you call me baby and kissing me, we have to go to work and save lives; I can't imagine the others would be very happy if we kept jumping each other during the trauma rooms."

The younger woman let out a laugh, "Fine, point made. I'll keep my baby pet name and kisses until we're in an on-call room alone together," she gave the blonde a wink and jumped out of the car.

Erica quickly followed behind her, looping her arm through Callie's as they walked into the hospital side by side, "No on-call room make-out sessions Cal, I mean it," she saw the dark-haired woman smirk out of the corner of her eye and leaned in towards her ear, "Promise me you won't drag me into one? Because I can't have you kissing me and touching me before a surgery... it makes me all hot and bothered and I can't concentrate on anything other than you."

Callie led Erica into the elevator, and rolled her eyes when the blonde removed her arm from hers; two young interns getting into the elevator with them. Callie nodded her head and offered them a smile in a way of greeting and quietly shuffled closer to the blonde cardio surgeon; sneakily sliding her hand down Erica's spine to settle on her ass.

The older woman turned her head to find Callie's eyes and pursed her lips together as she shook her head. Callie knew Erica was stifling an amused expression behind her tight lipped smile and playfully nipped one of the globes of her ass. Erica jumped a little in surprise and smirked at the younger woman, receiving a wink in return.

A pinging sound announced their arrival and the blonde pushed passed the two interns to get off on to the surgical floor with Callie following closely behind. She waited until she heard the doors of the elevator slide shut before smacking the dark-haired woman on the arm, "I thought I told you to behave while we're at work."

"You said no on-call room make-out sessions," she raised an eyebrow and lowered her voice; smirking sexily, "You never said I couldn't feel you up in the elevator."

Erica shook her head, "Add that to the list then Torres."

"Yes baby," Callie caught the flash of shock on the blonde's face and let out a mischievous laugh, "I know, I know, I'll behave I promise."

Just as Erica opened her mouth to reply a stern looking Bailey appeared in front of them, a chart clutched tightly in her hand, "Sorry to interrupt Dr Hahn, but I have a patient I need a consult on as soon as possible."

Erica nodded her head, "Of course, I'll just go grab my stuff from my locker and I'll be right there Dr Bailey," the blonde turned back to Callie, "I'll see you later?"

The younger woman nodded her head and smiled, "You bet."

Erica smiled and leant forward without thinking, capturing Callie's mouth with her own and kissing her deeply; the dark-haired woman instantly slid her hand to the blonde's cheek and returned the kiss as she pulled their bodies together.

It was the chorus of applause and loud cheering that made Erica snap out of her daze; she felt Callie smiling against her lips and pulled back just enough to find the younger woman's dark eyes, "I just accidentally outed us at work, didn't I?"

Callie nodded her head, and tightened her grasp on the blonde's waist, "Shall we?"

Erica smiled shakily and nodded her head; she took a deep and they both slowly turned to look in the direction from which all the celebratory noise was coming from. Standing smiling at them were Derek, Mark, Alex, Meredith, Cristina, George, Izzie, Lexie and Bailey.

Bailey was the first to step back towards them, a strange smile playing across her lips, "It's about damn time that our favourite non-couple got their shit together and finally became a couple."

Erica felt her mouth drop open as everyone stared back at them, looking a mixture of amused, smug and giddy. Callie slid her hand into Erica's and gave it a gentle tug; their eyes meeting as a smile played over both of their lips.

George glanced at them once, giving Callie a smile and avoiding Erica's death stare. He turned back to the group, "Who had today?"

Cristina smiled smugly, "I believe I did."

Alex watched Yang laugh cockily and shook his head, "There's no freaking way that Yang won the bet!"

Cristina danced towards George, "Hand it over Bambi," they watched him shuffle annoyingly for a minute before he passed her the large wad of cash. She held it up to her eyes and burst into a winning dance, stopping only when she caught the scandalised looks on Callie and Erica's faces, "I was broke..." she shrugged a little, "And besides you two would have danced around this thing forever if I hadn't have given you a little shove in the right direction."

"Wait, you knew about this?" The giddy smile on Lexie's face fell at once.

Cristina nodded and smiled arrogantly, "That's cheating Cristina!" Izzie looked appalled and annoyed as she huffed out her chest.

Cristina moved the money out of reach as Izzie made a grab at it, "I didn't know anything, no solid evidence anyway, the only thing I knew was that these two were moping around and not talking to each other, I just guessed that they'd finally... well you know."

Derek watched Izzie open her mouth to retaliate and moved towards Callie and Erica, offering them a gorgeous, charm filled smile, "Congratulations ladies, I'm happy for you."

Mark smirked, "So you think you'd be up for that threesome now?" he crossed his arms over his chest and winked, which made Erica scoff and Callie pull Erica more firmly to her side as she glared dangerously back at him, "Message received, no need to be so butch and protective of your woman Torres."

"Come on Mark," Derek gave him a shove in the opposite direction before following closely behind him. Bailey flashed her chart at Erica from her position at the nurses' station, reminding the blonde to come and find her when things had settled down.

Callie twisted around to face Erica, an amused smile playing on her face as she pressed her lips to the blonde's in a languid kiss. Erica let out a breathy chuckle as their eyes locked, "I can't believe that even they all knew about us... we're so slow."

"Slow and steady wins the race though, right?"

Erica nodded and leant in to kiss her again, "I hope so," she brushed a piece of hair out of Callie's eyes, "I should go see that patient Bailey was on about, we are at work after all," she turned towards the group, "Come on Yang, you're with me today, I've got some good surgeries scheduled."

"Wait a minute," Izzie shook her head as a flash of anger and disbelief spread across her face, "She cheats us all out of money, meddles to get you two together and still gets a surgery, that's so unfair!"

Cristina shook her head, "Never doubt what you know to be right trailer park, isn't that right Dr Hahn?"

Callie raised an eyebrow, completely confused by what was happening and Erica simply chuckled and shook her head, "Come on Yang, before your ego gets bigger than mine," she brushed a kiss over the younger woman's lips and grabbed the chart from Bailey as she headed towards the locker room, Cristina eagerly following behind her.

Callie caught Bailey's eye, "You have any idea what that was about?"

"No idea," she leant against the nurses' station, continuing to fill out her chart as Callie came to stand beside her. Bailey studied her for a second, not failing to notice the younger woman's ridiculously huge, beaming smile, "You're happy."

Callie nodded, "I'm ludicrously happy," A beat of silence passed between them before the dark-haired woman caught Bailey's gaze again, "What?"

"How was the sex?"

Callie felt her mouth drop open in shocked and let out a laugh, "I can't believe you just asked me that, you're _Bailey_... you don't gossip about our private lives.... ever."

"I ain't asking you for details Torres, just a simple answer will do."

Callie momentarily closed her eyes, images of her night with Erica floated into her head and she unconsciously licked her lips, "The sex is...mind blowing," she opened her eyes to find Baileys and smirked, "Actually, she does this wonderful thing where she-"

Bailey's eyes widened and she held up her hand, "I said simple Torres, stop over sharing," Callie laughed at the disgust on the older woman's face, "I'm happy for the both of you," she offered Callie a serious smile, "You could both use a little love."

Callie smiled her thanks; Bailey was right, they could both use a little love, but if her pounding heart and fluttering stomach were anything to go by, the love that she felt between them already was a hell of a lot more than a little.

---------------------------

The doors to the elevator pinged open and Callie instantly burst into a love filled smile at the sight of her blonde haired girlfriend. Erica stopped the conversation she was having with Yang as her blue eyes drank in the sight of the younger woman.

Yang gave Callie a small smile as she passed and nodded her head at Erica before heading out of the hospital lobby and leaving them alone for the first time since they'd arrived together earlier that morning.

"Hey beautiful," Erica placed a kiss on Callie's lips, "How was your day? No one gave you any trouble about us did they?"

Callie smiled, shaking her head; linking their hands, "Baby relax, everyone is super supportive, I think that's throwing me off more than the thought of them all giving us a hard time with their constant teasing remarks."

Erica tugged at the younger woman's hand, getting her to easily fall into step with her as they left the hospital, "I know what you mean, it's a little creepy how they all knew."

"Well that's not the only creepy thing happening today, what's up with you and Cristina?" she raised an eyebrow and let a playful smirk dance across her lips, "You two suddenly seem like best friends, should I be worried that I'm being replaced?"

Erica chuckled, "Highly doubtful, I don't think you have anything to be worried about Cal," she flashed her a smile, "We're finally making an effort to get along, she did help us out after all, and I don't want things to be awkward when I stay over at your apartment, so I'm making nice... she's not as bad as I originally thought."

"Oh I see, you being nice to her is all part of your evil plan to stay the night at my apartment," she raised an eyebrow, "You want to christen my bed later Hahn?"

Erica faltered and pulled at Callie's hand, drawing her into her arms and kissing her deeply; breaking away breathlessly and finding each other's eyes, "Just for the record Torres... I want to christen every room, hell even every surface with you that I can."

"That's incredibly sexy you know," she captured the blonde's mouth again, "And it's even hotter knowing that Cristina will be home, I can't wait to make you scream my name while we have company in the apartment."

Erica blushed, "You like the idea of getting caught?"

Callie kissed her again, "Mmm hmm, it's a definite turn on knowing I can have you wherever I want, with or without people lingering around."

"Maybe I should retract my christening speech."

The dark-haired woman laughed, "Not a chance baby, not a chance," Erica rolled her eyes, knowing that she'd never win and allowed Callie to lead her inside to the warmness of Joe's bar. They caught sight of their familiar colleagues all standing together, laughing and talking with a drink in hand.

"Well, look who finally turned up, our guests of honour," Mark smiled cockily from his position from the bar. He grabbed two glasses of wine and headed towards them, passing them each a drink.

As they joined the group, Derek smiled at them and lifted his glass, "To old friendships and new beginnings," everyone followed his lead and toasted their glasses, each offering Callie and Erica a supportive nod.

"How does it feel, finally being a couple?" Lexie smiled warmly up at them from her position on the stool as Mark wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Callie let out a nervous breath and glanced at Erica, "It's amazing."

"What we really want to know is how it happened," Alex offered them a dirty smile, "Was it smoking hot?"

"Alex!" Izzie whipped him on the arm, "You can't ask that, it's rude."

"I don't care, it's chick on chick action," he shrugged and took a swig of his beer.

"How _did_ you finally get together?" Meredith interjected.

Callie glanced down at the floor and Erica opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, "I don't think that's important, all that matters now is that we're together and we're happy," she slid her hand back into Callie's and smiled lovingly at her.

"Well I always thought they were going to get together at that hospital dance, you know the one where they both turned up without a date and sat staring at each other the whole night...." George laughed at the memory and abruptly stopped when everyone turned to look at him strangely. He cleared his throat and finished the remainder of his beer.

"Nah, I thought they were going to get together when we all had to do those stupid team building exercises," Izzie smiled, "You two looked so awkward and flustered when you had to be partners and catch each other."

Mark shook his head, "That wasn't the closest they've come, remember when that massive car pile-up happened and these two had to work so close together in the OR, they were pressed against each other for hours during that surgery, you could see the sexual tension from all the way up in the gallery."

"Wait you all knew?" Callie looked on in disbelief and Erica nodded in agreement.

"Have you seriously had bets on when we'd get together?"

"Of course we all knew, you two have been walking the fine line for months," Cristina smirked, "The bet was just a necessary way of keeping track on how long it would take you two to get over yourselves."

"I can't believe you all knew," Erica shook her head.

"For two people that are pretty bright," Bailey gestured her hands at them, "You're pretty damn stupid and not to mention blind when it comes to the obvious things."

They all laughed, "Well I guess it's a good thing we finally made sense of it all," Erica brushed a kiss onto Callie's lips.

"Time to really celebrate, let the party begin Joe," Mark called across to the bartender and smiled when the music turned up, trays of drinks being lined across the bar for them, "Tonight's on me."

"That's sweet Mark, but that doesn't mean you're any closer to getting us into bed," Callie laughed when he pouted a little and then grabbed Lexie's hand, leading her off to dance with the others.

"Want to dance baby?" Callie held her hand out to Erica and smiled when the blonde smiled at her and took her hand.

They spent the rest of the night with their friends, drinking, dancing, laughing and having a really great time celebrating this major step in their lives. Bailey sat at the bar, sipping at her orange juice as she watched the new couple carefully; some time during the night they'd slipped away from the group and nestled into the booth in the far corner; they were cuddled up together, their eyes never leaving each other's as they continued to whisper sweet nothings into the other's ear. Bailey noticed their hands resting on the table, their fingers clasped together as they leant forward to brush gentle kisses against the other's lips; the resident took another sip of her drink and smiled to herself at the realisation of how comfortable they already were with their new status, and how deeply in love they appeared; as if they'd never not been a couple the entire time she'd known them.

You can hide behind a facade, letting it disguise you with the deceiving illusion of deception, but in end, when you take that all away, you're left with the plain honest truth; the true reality of the world, of your life, and that reality is that true love can never stay hidden away for very long.


End file.
